


I will fear no evil

by JustTheTwoOfUs



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Anxiety, But happy in a way, Death, GTA AU, I've been busy, M/M, Multi, OT6, Others I may have forgotten, TEMPORARY Hiatus, You've been warned, but not majorly, but still, lots of gang stuff, netflix is my destruction, not sorry, okay yeah sad ending, sorry - Freeform, there was a struggle for the title, there's violence but I don't think it's too graphic, triggers!!!, umm guns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-03-11 13:04:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 29,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3327824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustTheTwoOfUs/pseuds/JustTheTwoOfUs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumors travel around about the leaders, who have become untouchable. How cruel the six are and how they had become that way. </p><p>Some say that the six were spawned by the devil, all pieces of him in different bodies. Many assumed their pasts were rough, filled with death and despair until they finally lost their minds, and they found each other in all that hell. Another rumor goes around frequently that one of them had been kidnapped and tortured, and the other five went insane without him while the one went insane in his captivity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> DeeDee and I had a debate on what to call this.... She wanted to call it rainbow rumpus partytown and gay orgy gun battle party mach2.....  
> -________-  
> Also, sorry for the long break! Anybody else fry their hard drive with all their works on it lately? No? Just me? Alright....

Gavin knows the idea is a bad one the moment it leaves Geoff's mouth. Even though Geoff is one of Gavin's loved ones, he is still the crew boss, and Gavin had to have a long internal debate before being able to speak out.

"Geoff...." Gavin speaks quietly, half hoping that Geoff doesn't hear him, but who was he kidding, of course Geoff always listened.

"Yes Gav?" Geoff has even turned all the way around so that he is facing the Brit instead of his  white board . Gavin swallows nervously.

"I know my heists don't always go down so well and I-I know that you're the boss but...um...." He stumbles over the words as four additional pair of eyes drift to him. "This is Rooster Teeth we are talking about! You bloody well know how they treat those that oppose them!" Geoff's gaze turns into a glare as Jack's hand slides up Gavin's arm.

"You're missing the point! If we do this right, Rooster Teeth won't be a problem anymore. Nobody would fuckin' challenge the Fake AH Crew." Geoff says proudly.

"Sure...but-" Gavin's cut off by Geoff's chuckle. Jack is massaging Gavin's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. 

"Don't think about the negatives." Jack tells him softly. After a moment, Gavin just nods.

"Okay Geoff, I trust you." He gets out.

Geoff has turned back to his board but Gavin's done listening for the day. All he can do it focus on the gut feelings that gnaws at his mind for them to stop Geoff's plan. After another ten minutes the meeting ends and Geoff takes Jack and Ray back to work. Ryan, Michael and Gavin head to their new apartment for the evening. 

The six had begun the Fake AH Crew out of secrecy after a heist but all had started out in the Rooster Teeth gang. Jack had been brought in first, long ago, to settle his father's debt. And somewhere along the way, he boxed and he won and Burnie had made sure the debt was never settled.  Ryan had a devious mind and was able to plant himself into other gangs to spy for Matt and Burnie. He had felt little to no remorse for double crossing the small time thieves. Ray was wicked with a sniper rif le, no matter the distance. He never missed and it wasn't hard to take his place as Burnie's top assassin. Gavin, for all the jokes made about him being stupid, had a sinful tongue. He was able to curve his words, manipulate them into something he could use to control those around him. Burnie loved taking him to rival gang leaders and talking them into non-breakable verbal contracts with Rooster Teeth. Michael had become a weapons expert overnight after the previous armorer had eaten a bullet. He had control over the entiret y  of Rooster Teeth's weapons inventory and had single handedly improved the sign-out system Burnie preferred to use. Geoff had started out as a fall guy but had proven himself useful and advanced to high so fast that Burnie took notice and took the  tattooed  man under his wing.

Geoff's ideas, however, were revolutionary and they all ended one way: with him on top.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack Pattillo had been the first to spot Geoff Ramsey. He'd been having a post match drink with Burnie, Matt, Ashely, Caiti and Joel when Ramsey had strolled in through the doorway. He seemed casual aside from the amount of blood that had dried over his tattoos and he slid into the booth next to Burnie. He leaned over to whisper in their bosses ear while everyone else carried on light conversation. Jack turned to Caiti and attempted to join the conversation. Caiti was Austrailian, trapped in Burnie's gang like the rest of them, so young and beautiful and in need of money. She'd met Jack as a stripper in one of Burnie's clubs after a fight, all smiles and wavy golden hair and a stunning, curvy body. While the two weren't actually dating, they'd spent enough time together that people knew not to fuck her over.

Geoff looked up at Jack as he finished relating the information to Burnie, who was smiling broadly. 

"Stay for a drink Ramsey, you've earned it."

That night Jack and Geoff went drink for drink, questioning each other about gang life and video games and everything except after (because nobody retired except a mob boss). Eventually, it turned into two a.m. and Burnie left with Ashley -they were obvious about the relationship, almost too much- and Joel left after Matt did. Caiti gave up fighting for Jack's attention and left the two to drink themselves into oblivion.

Once they were alone, Geoff challenged all the gang theories and thought up such violent heists that Jack wanted to pick up a gun and follow him. He couldn't help but wonder why Geoff was wasting time in Rooster Teeth. Geoff was feisty and cruel -and mildly alcoholic- and everything Jack wasn't, but damn it all if the two parted as unlikely friends. They exchanged phone numbers before Geoff drove off on a motorcycle. Jack called up a cab and that was all there was to the night -morning- but the memory stuck to Jack like glue and it was months before he could fathom why.

Jack stumbled into his apartment at five fo rty  that morning and noticed Caiti wasn't there. He wasn't as sad as he should have been. He woke up in the late afternoon with a throbbing headache, dry mouth and sweat coated skin. Both Caiti and Burnie had tried to call him -probably about last night or a fight but he couldn't stand to think of either- and a text from Geoff. 

'Fuck you. Fuck my head. Same time next week.'

With a rough chuckle, he answered: 'Maybe. Only as long as I keep winning fights.'

Geoff hadn't responded for another hour, long after Jack had showered and eaten a greasy batch of bacon and eggs and swallowed half a bottle of advil.

'One day, you won't have to fight anymore.' 

Catit stopped by right after he read the message and Geoff's text went unanswered.

\--- ---

It was two weeks later that Ray spotted Geoff next from his scope. Burnie had gone to personally meet a potenti ally  threatening gang leader and with so much at steak, Burnie had brought his top sniper to guard him from afar.

He had already shot the rival sniper and was sighted in on the leaders head when a tattooed arm flashed across the scope. He moved the sights back in order to refocus and that was when he really saw Geoff. The man was wearing a silver button down with the sleeves rolled up -exposing said tattoos- and black slacks. He looked professional, aside from the M4 slung across his back.

Ray paused at the sight of him, unsure of who he should really be watching because he had never seen the man with the handlebar mustache before. When Burnie turned and talked to him though, Ray was able to relax and move back to his original target, assuming the guy was a bodyguard for hire. 

By the end of the meeting, Ray had only needed to shoot one person and he packed up all his stuff when Burnie left. He took his little crotchrocket and sped through Los Santos, the tattooes burnt into his brain like a sunburn, and finally reached the crumbling building of Rooster Teeth. It was larger than it looked, the inside filled with offices, an underground boxing ring, a torture basement and a vault for the armory. His first stop was to Michael Jones to check the weapon and ammo back in. Anythign that was unaccounted for was simply added to your debt. Michael and Ray had been friends since before the gang, going to the same school and graduating in the same class. 

Ray entered the armory, the last door on the left of the elevator, and dropped his backpack on Michael's desk. 

"Did it go well?" Michael asked as he emptied Ray's bag. "You only used one round."

"Fuckers had a sniper on the roof across from mine. He wasn't even scanning for me so I took him out." Ray told him as he took his empty bag back. Michael dated the time in his notebook before taking out a cleaning kit.

"So Burnie's alright." Michael sat down and begun to clean. "How have you been? We haven't talked much lately."

"Yeah, it's been rough. Joel and I...he got home really late last night." Ray sat on the corner of the desk. It felt good to finally vent about his relationship, or lack thereof, to someone who was in a similar situation. "How are you?"

"Oh you know...Lindsay...she's a uh-spitfire." Michael avoided  the quesiton but Ray knew the whole story.

"As usual." Both men shared a laugh before Ray stood and signed his name next to the check in time. Michael continued to clean but gave Ray the all clear to head up to their bosses office. Ray gave a small wave as he slipped out the door with the empty bag slung over one shoulder. The elevator ride was slow but he made it up and down the long hallway and knocked on the doorway. The door opened and he saw that Burnie was sat at his desk with Matt to his left and the tattooed man behind the opened door.

"You did good Ray." Burnie told him as he handed Matt a folded piece of paper.

"Thank you sir."

"The bastard admitted that they had someone who was going to take me out. I told him you'd gotten there first." Burnie gushed as Matt handed the page to Ray. He didn't check it because Burnie always paid him fair and he considered it rude to argue over the price of one dead body.

"Yes sir." Ray said. He jerked his head towards Geoff. "Almost took him out too."

"Geoff Ramsey is still relatively new." Matt introduced Geoff, who shot Ray a crooked smile.

"Can you show him the way to Michael's?" Burnie asked. Ray nodded -like he was going to say no to the mob boss- and gestured for Geoff to follow him. They exited and Geoff shut the door behind him and they walked quietly to the elevator.

"Sorry about almost killing you." Ray  said once the elevator began to move. Geoff just gazed at Ray with heavy-lidded eyes and an awkward silence filled the air.

"Burnie should have told you I'd be there." Geoff finally said, smiling down at him. The elevator let them out and Ray pointed to Michael's door.

"Just in there, Michael will walk you through the process." Ray muttered. Geoff thanked him and walked off, and Ray walked to Lindsay's office to collect his money before Burnie decided he had another person he wanted dead. Ray was in debt, deep debt, with his first gang before he graduated high school. He was a good dealer but he didn't sell enough to broke high school punks and smoked too much of his own stuff. He had pissed his crew boss off and the man had put a reasonable hit on the Puerto Rican's head  and eventually, Ray's much older boyfriend Joel begged Burnie to rescue the kid. Burnie hadn't wanted some low down dealer for his gang but once Joel told Burnie about Ray's ace shot, he took an interest. Burnie saved him and Ray was indebted because of it.

Ray took his cash bitterly and recklessly sped to an empty apartment. He blazed alone and waited for Joel to come home -Joel come home? What a fuckin' joke- or Burnie to call him.  It was all he ever did anymore.

\--- ---

Geoff entered the armory and approached Michael with confidence.

"Burnie checked it out, I'm checkin' it in." Michael rolled his eyes at the newbie's attempt at a joke and took the weapon. He checked the magazine and then checked over the weapon to see if it needed cleaning.

"It seems the same as it did this morning. You didn't use it?" Michael asked. Geoff shook his head as he plopped himself down in the folding chair against the wall.

"Nope. I had come back from a drop to give him the news and met him on the way. He asked me to menacingly stand in the corner and make sure everything went smooth."

"Your new around here, aren't you?" Michael bent over and wrote in his notebook as he talked.

"Fairly new. Couple of weeks."

"What's your debt?"

"My debt?" Geoff seemed confused by the concept and Michael smirked.

"We've all got one. It's the reason we're still here. It's how Burns keeps us around." Michael signed for Burnie and set the weapon across his lap. "I was a dumb kid, man. Got in with all the wrong people thinking I was hot shit, 'bout the same time Ray started getting deep in with his own crowd. I did a few drops, some boxing matches,  but I guess I fucked something  up because the boss was mad at me after a few months. Burnie had already helped Ray out of his shit and he heard about a hit out on my head. He brought me to Burnie, who saved my ass, and all but wiped that gang off the face of the planet. He doesn't help you out unless he thinks you can be useful." Michael paused and looked up at Geoff. "What's yours?"

"I actually don't have one."

"Yeah, alright fucker. If you don't want to tell me then just fuckin' say so." Michael tossed the pen as he finished his paperwork. "Get the fuck out."

"Michael, you and I could do wicked things together." Geoff said sadly as he walked out the door. Michael slipped into the vault and secured the weapon before giving up on the day. He packed his things and called Kdin in to watch the armory and left.

It wasn't the first time he'd left without Lindsay -that had been months ago- but it still sucked to walk by her door. He always passed her on the way out and their eyes always seemed to meet and they always shared that glance that ex-lovers often did. He never said anything, neither did she, because both knew the relationship was long over.

Geoff's tattoos were burning in his head like an untamable flame.

Ray called him at sunset, high off his fuckin' ass, and Michael had the decency to pretend his best friend wasn't crying over a doomed relationship.

The next morning Michael rolled out of bed alone. Lindsay hadn't stayed the night in months even if her name was still on the lease. They'd been together for a year, so bored and depressed and craving freedom by the end that it litereally tore the young couple apart. They'd met right after Ray had brought Michael to B urnie. Luckily for Michael, the armorer position had just opened up, and Burnie now had an excuse to rid the world of another miserable gang that messed his drops up.

Ray walked Michael to the armory and was explaining the whole Kerry situation when a red-headed woman had flown through the door with a pistol splattered with blood.

"This isn't even fucking mine!" Lindsay was holding it out as far as she could. "I swear, no more favors-oh! Who are you?" She asked Michael.

"Michael Jones, and you are?"

"In desperate need to get this cleaned off." 

"Guess that's my job now." Michael shrugged as he took the pistol and a dirty rag off the desk. He wiped away the blood as Ray waved to him.

"I'm headed out but I'll be back in a bit." 

"See you later." Michael sat in his chair behind his new-to-him desk and continued to clean.

"My name's Lindsay, by the way." She said as she sat on the edge of the desk.

"Nice to meet you." He told her with a smile. She smirked down at him and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"So...what's your debt?" 

The cold shower pulled him from the past and he climbed out and got dressed and ate a piece of toast robotically with the same routine he used every day. The routine was calming but there was always a buzz of unjust anger beneath his pale skin. He left his apartment alone and remembered how hard they had tried to make it work. She would always wake up before him and use all of his hot water before making him breakfast. They'd walk to work together and spend the morning giving each other subtle glances before using lunch for lazy afternoon sex and returning to work sated and happy. They fit together like tow puzzle pieces, incredibly happy given the circumstances and so in love they were almost blind to the violence around them. 

Michael arrived at work and sat behind his desk, remembering how the flame had burnt out way too soon, how they branched out in a desperate attempt to rekindle the passion. They brought others to bed, others like the blonde secretary Barbara Dunkleman or the slick talker Gavin Free, to spark something other than the now icy numbness inside them. 

That was long before Lindsay stopped coming to bed with Michael and Gavin, long before he fell out of love with the woman and back into love -head over fuckin' heels- with the Brit. Michael couldn't help the smile that crossed his face as Gavin Fucking Free popped in his head. The dirty blonde, always wind blown, sex hair between his fingers and deep green eyes that always knew what he was thinking made his stomach flop. Lindsay was suprisingly accepting of the relationship when he'd told her and the two carried out an awkward friendship for the sake of the workplace. But things had changed between them forever, altering the friendship painfully as lovers' quarrel s often did, and the friendship became a façade that was hard to keep up. 

Michael looked up from his paperwork to see Geoff walking into his office.

"The fuck do you want?" Michael spit out as Geoff took a seat in the chair acorss from him. 

"I'm curious about you." Geoff said. The honestly threw Michael for a loop.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Michael pushed the paperwork aside when he realized it was Kdin's scrawl -he'd probably spend all morning fixing it anyway- to really pay attention to Geoff.

"How much do you know about weaponry?" 

"Everything we've got, I'm an expert on." 

"Oh."

"Kerry ate a bullet before I got put here. Burnie likes to be organized and properly prepared and he doesn't keep useless people around. I did what I had to do to secure this positon." Michael answered honestly. 

"It would seem that way." Geoff nodded as the idea in his head took hold. The door behind him creeked open and Gavin Free walked in.

"Oh, hello there! You must be new." Gavin held his hand out and they shook. "I'm Gavin Free."

"Why the fuck does everyone say that? I've been here for a couple weeks now." Michael could see Geoff's face change to hide the irritation that crossed it, but he knew Gavin was in no danger from the older man. 

"You're still new Mr. Ramsey. You idle about even though there's work needing done. You probably actually don't even have an assignment seeing that we don't really know your skill set. If you do have a job, it probably isn't a great one because of the lack of said skill set we are unaware of. Seeing that you're alone though, and just idiling about with the prospect of work doing, you have no friends." Gavin sat himself on the desk as Michael watched Gavin tongue tie Geoff. "So, yes, fairly new."

Gavin's particular skill set relied heavily on his fast paced British accent in order to form the non-negotiable contracts. He really enjoyed practicing on those that were unaware around him. 

"Um...." Geoff went over the conversation again in his head, respeaking every word. "Yeah, I guess."

"Sucker." Michael chuckled. Geoff shrugged as Gavin smirked.

"Not the first time." Geoff said with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Ryan Haywood had been known as the Mad King since his last undercover gang takeover. He'd gone so deep so fast that he had actually taken control of the small drug ring before handing it over to Burnie. His eyes always had a glint of something less than human, something lacking a viable form of sanity, especially after jobs he got to kill in. Blood staining his skin, drying under his nails, gave him such a rush that sent adrenalin to every part of his body. His heart hammered agianst his ribcage and he'd feel alive again.

Aft er that wore off though, he'd sit in his favorite lazy boy in his empty apartment and ponder how psychotic he truly was. How far gone and destroyed he had to be to enjoy the taking of a life. His wife -ex-wife, fuck- and kid had up and left to New York over a year ago and they weren't coming back.

It was to have been coming home from his nine to five IT job and finding the divorce papers and both of them gone that sent him to Burns' illegal boxing ring. He didn't fight, but he'd bet all his money away after a few weeks. He'd hit it rich on a lucky bet and when he bet it all, double or nothing, on the man fighting Pattillo, he'd been way over his head in debt after the bearded man won. Burnie's men had been watching him that night, and they took him into the back room and proceeded to deliver the beating of a lifetime. He had no desire to die though, and begged Burnie for his life.  Burnie took a chance on the gambler and spared his life, bringing him on to create a branch of crew members that  infiltrated gangs and hacked into their software and computers. Ryan singlehandedly improved the merging of gangs, trained all those that were under him, and reported directly to Burnie . 

Ryan had hated Pattillo for a long time after that, after he had to beg for his life, until he'd joined Burnie one evening to show him the transferring  of money into the bosses impressive bank account. Pattillo had been there -post fight with a swollen eye and puffy lips- and it was the first time the two had talked. The two drank for hours after Burnie had left and the transfer had been completed. 

Ryan and Jack left together that night for Ryan's apartment and for the first time in months, Ryan felt the same adrenalin rush as if he'd recently killed when Jack's calloused fingers brushed his skin. Both were drunk, reeked of alcohol and stumbled their way through lube and condoms and sex, but somehow it went perfectly.

Ryan woke up the next morning alone and he carried a bitter taste in his mouth, and an even colder opinion of the boxer.

\--- ---

Ryan didn't have a gang to threaten yet -although he was keeping tabs on RWBY- so he sat quietly in his shared office reading old fanfiction. The storyline wasn't very well thought out but he couldn't stop reading it until Geoff walked in. He exited out of his Archive tab and turned to face the man. 

He knew Geoff Ramsey by reputation only, a reputation that grew faster than a pubescent teenager, as an alcoholic, violent man. He'd been in the gang for five months, and in that time, he was well known for his lack of sympathy, brutally smart plans, and was stronger than he seemed. He was climbing the ranks faster than anyone had before him. 

If Ryan didn't know better, he'd say that Geoff was after Matt's seat as second-in-command. 

"Mr. Haywood." Geoff slyly smiled as he sat in the chair in front of Ryan's desk. He held out his hand and the tattooed man shook it with a strong grip.

"I don't believe we've ever met." Ryan said.

"Geoff Ramsey."

"Of course." Ryan pulled his hand back. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering what your debt was?"

"Well, my wife left me and I ended up in Burnie's boxing ring, way over my head. Long story short, begged for my life, Burnie gave me a job. We created a division that infil trates  gangs and hacks computers."

"I heard you had a nickname...."

"The Mad King? Yeah, went too deep into some little crew and took it over for a little while. That's about when Burnie and I decided to create the undercover division." Ryan wasn't embarrassed that he had to beg for his life and he always told his story the same way. 

"Undercover...hmm." Geoff mumbled.

"Basically yeah. I also do computer hacking but more often than not, it's to watch the other gangs we need to keep tabs on. Matt is technically in charge of us but I always report directly to Burnie. I don't go out much anymore though." Ryan sat back with a smug smile.

"Because you're the Mad King." Geoff said. "So who is in charge of what around here?"

"Does it matter? In the end, Burnie owns us all. He, Joel and Matt ran together in an old gang before moving to Los Santos and forming Rooster Teeth. Between the three, they don't need to be here to run us. Everyone pretty much stays in line. But just in case they have people that head the departments."

"Like Michael as armorer?"

"Yeah. Joel has way too much to do without having to keep tabs on the weapons."

"Ray?"

"He trains snipers. Picks and chooses those he likes. But he's by far the best."

"Jack?"

"Pattillo is just a fuckin' boxer. Tougher than nails though, sometimes Burns just takes him along to intimidate." Ryan felt something in the back of his mind. Why was Geoff asking these questions?

"Gavin is just a con-man." Geoff pointed out.

"He can talk you into anything. He heads most drug deals and knows more about the drug production than anyone in the entire gang. That’s what he does when Burnie doesn't need him to talk rivals into verbal contracts."

"What other jobs are there?" Geoff was too curious and Ryan shot him a smile.

"Let's see...fall boys, drug dealers, drug producers, hookers, strippers, even admin to control the finances, hackers, just basically whatever Burnie needs." Ryan leaned forward again. "So it's like a business here."

"Aren't all gangs?"

"What do you really need?" Ryan asked him. Geoff just kept smiling.

"How do people get higher around here?"

"You take initiative."

\--- ---

Geoff had bided his time over the last few months, -seven goddamned months, just by the fuckin' way- starting out with meaningless jobs and moving up to theft, being a messenger boy to Burnie, and after all of it, he knew his plan had to be flawless. Burnie was smarter that he'd previously assumed and he would have seen right through Geoff's lie if he wasn't careful. 

Either way, in order to set the plan in motion, he had to ask.

He had been a part of Rooster Teeth for seven long months and was already good friends with the objects of his affections. He and Jack drank together on Wednesday nights when the bars were empty. After he'd started going home with the boxer, he'd heard rumors that Caiti was single and miserable. Ryan's suspicion had died down after Geoff had taken him out, and when Geoff wasn't spending the night at Jack's, he was at Haywood's.

Ray was quiet but deadly, and Geoff hadn't been too sure the Puerto Rican was interested in him until the two had gotten so fucking high together -they had both become astronomers on top of Geoff's building- and Ray had kissed him. Ray had then admitted to his relationship with Joel -really, Geoff should have seen that one- and how trapped he was to the older man, and how he'd been wasting his time trying to save it when things had become so pointless. He and Joel had been together since Ray was seventeen though -Joel had sold to him- and it was hard to leave when it was all you knew. Ray had heard whispers that Joel was drinking with Adam and the two were showing up to Rooster Teeth together....

Geoff then had to help Ray forget about Joel between silky sheets and whispered words.

Michael and Gavin were grouped together even in Geoff's mind. He couldn't bear to separate them. Michael was all fire, all bite and fury and muscle while Gavin was cool, collected and clever -only occasionally was he a calamity-, more brainy than he let on. They completed each other like bread and butter after a long night of vodka.

After realizing that he needed all five men like he needed fucking air, he begun to plot.

He'd kidnap them.

Burnie was alone, a rarity all on it's own, and Geoff took it as a sign. He sat in the cold leather seat confidently and patiently even with sweat breaking along his collar int eh ice cold room. There would only be one shot at this and it would either succeed or he'd be in the Los Santos river by tomorrow morning.

"Mr. Ramsey, what can I do for you?" Burnie's friendly exterior was a ploy. You could never truly let your guard down around him. 

"I'd like to propose a heist, sir."

"Ah, it has been a while since our last one, hasn't it?" Burnie slid the paperwork to the side and turned his attention to Geoff. "What's the target?"

"Los Santos Intern ational Bank. Huge target, I know, but think of the payoff." Geoff said.

"That's going to take a lot of people Geoff." Burnie sighed. "We can't lose anyone right now, not with RWBY gaining credibility in the streets."

"I can do it with six."

"What?" Burnie let his face show confusion before his mask was back up.

"Six and I can guarantee maximum profit."

"How? Wait...who?" The idea seemed to perplex Burnie.

"We'd knock all the cameras out, have all our dirty cops answer the calls by rewiring the silent alarm to them. Two stay upstairs to reroute the money to an offshore bank temporarily before we can route it to you, and four go down and take the paper. All six of us slip out the back door."

"You've been planning this for a while haven't you?" Burnie paused again. "Who would go?"

"I would, sir, to lead it. Ray Narvaez, Jack Pattillo, Ryan Haywood, Michael Jones and  Gavin  Free."

"I haven't sent those six out in a long time and never together." Burnie was shutting down and Geoff's mind went into overdrive.

"I know the six of us could do it. Ray never misses a shot. Michael would have all the necessary weaponry and Gavin could be able to distract anyone. Jack is the intimidation, the muscle, and Ryan's hacking skills would be very useful to transfer the money over." Geoff held his breath as Burnie thought it over. The crime boss took a scrap page and begun to scribble notes on them. Those fifteen minutes were the longest in his life and he begun to believe he was caught....

Burnie  looked up with a smile.

"How soon can we do this?"

\--- ---

Geoff gave them a month to train replacements in case of the worst and to practice. The six spent every day together and, with the exception of Jack and Ryan ignoring each other, they grew closer than Geoff had hoped. 

Geoff got some pleasure over the subtle flirting that went on.

Ray showed up on heist day tired and hungry but excited. It had been too long since his last heist. He walked in and noticed Michael and Gavin -always together- then Jack and Ryan and finally Geoff leaning over a table with a map.

"Hurry up Narvaez." Geoff  barked . "You're late."

Ray took his seat on the L ad's side of the table -they had formed teams early on- and Ryan cleared his throat. 

"I rechecked the cameras last night. They're still down. The alarm is still rewired to the private number until tomorrow." Ryan didn't realize how much he missed his fingers flying over the keyboard, hacking into systems, until he was doing it again.

"Good. Gavin and I snuck in last night after you knocked the cameras off to clip the main alarms. We should be good to slip out the back door." Geoff told them.

"Plan G!" Gavin shouted.

"Jack and I secured an all black SUV and planted it in the alley behind the bank." Michael high fived Jack as he said it.

"So we all go in together. Ryan and Jack stay upstairs to transfer the funds to the bank overseas. The Lad's and I go downstairs to collect the cash." Geoff took a deep breath as he told them the final part he'd kept close to the chest. "In each backpack we can pack at least half a mill. Then we slip out the back and go to a safehouse for a week or so."

"That's a lot of cash." Jack whistled. Geoff nodded gravely.

"Alright assholes, let's heist."

\--- ---

Geoff went in first to find the bank mostly empty. Michael followed with Gavin, then Ray, Jack and finally Ryan. The weapons were already out and surprisingly nobody noticed. Geoff walked up to the counter and pointed his handgun at the clerk.

"Get the fuck down!" He shouted loudly. Employees climbed over the counter and laid down on the floor with the few bank patrons that were sniveling. 

"Shut up! Shut the hell up!" Michael screamed at a blonde woman that was begging for her life. The hostages quieted down aside from an occasional sob or hitched breath and Geoff pointed out an important looking man.

"You! Stand up!" The man held his hands above his head while Geoff adjusted his skull mask. "Take us to the vault!" 

The Lad's disappeared behind the counter with Geoff while Ryan pulled his laptop out. He connected to the bank's system and began to type away. Jack wandered around to avoid Ryan, staring patrons down menacingly, holding his M4 out tauntingly. Nobody moved as Ryan began to chuckle.

"The silent alarm was pushed." Ryan clicked around a few more times, and then stopped to growl. "It didn't go to the private number."

"Fuck." Jack walked back over and looked at the screen. "Did you start the transfer?"

"Yeah, it's started." Ryan clicked back to the screen that sho wed  the money moving.

"Yo, boss, we've got a problem." Jack said into the headset.

"Look at it all!" Gavin squealed in the background while  Geoff sighed heavily.

"What's happening?" Geoff asked.

"Silent alarm was triggered and it went to the pigs." Ryan looked up to Jack as sirens started in the distance.

"Shit. Lads, pack up, we've been flagged." A gunshot rang over the headset and Gavin gasped.

"We've got sirens, boss." Ryan told Geoff as he closed his laptop. The transfer had completed and he packed his stuff into his bag quickly. Geoff and the Lad's popped out of the door with very full backpacks and the six headed towards the back door. The sirens were loud and obnoxious but the cops didn't enter the bank. They escaped through the back and slipped into the alley and entered the SUV almost flawlessly. Police cars rocketed by the alley entrance and Geoff waited for them all to pass before exiting. The car ride started out quietly.

"I thought you fixed the alarms?" Jack said to Ryan accusingly.

"I did. Someone must have seen they were wrong and fixed them this morning." Ryan snapped back.

"Either way, we've escaped. Now, onto phase two." Geoff was pleased they managed to make it away without a tail.

"Back to our places to hide for a week." Ray said calmly, leaning back into the seat, clutching his stuffed backpack.

"Nope. We're going to my place boys." Geoff informed them. "Burnie said we should hide our faces until we are no longer Los Santos' most wanted."

"Really?" Gavin asked excitedly. He slipped his hand into Michael's and even though it was slicked with sweat, it was still nice. 

"Just for a few days." Michael sighed as he recalled the amount of weapons they'd pulled out of the  a rmory  for the job. "We've got a lot of RT weapons."

"Don't worry about that." Geoff continued to drive until they hit a home in the high end suburbs. Geoff punched a code into the black box and the gate  opened and he drove up to a garage. Ryan, Jack and Ray shot Geoff confused glances -unbeknownst to each other, the three had all visited Geoff's apartment, but none had been here- but he ignored the three of them in favor of holding his arms out proudly. "Welcome to Casa de Ramsey."


	4. Chapter 4

Geoff's home was rather large. After an entryway where the six left their shoes, there was a hallway that split off into a sitting room on the left, a dining room on the right that led into a kitchen, and a small bathroom. Past the kitchen was a tall glass door that led to a pool and hot tub area outside. At the end of the hallway was a staircase that went to the second floor -where there were three bedrooms- and a spiral staircase that led to his basement -which had a bar, a pool, table, and a large bed-. The six spent the afternoon and evening watching T.V. until Gavin got too tired and began to nod off.

"We should head to bed." Michael suggested softly. Gavin nodded and looked to Geoff for room arrangements.

"Michael and I can room together." Gavin told him. Geoff nodded.

"That's fine." Geoff said, turning the television off. Jack stretched his back and said exactly what Geoff was hoping.

"Geoff and I can room together and then Ray and Ryan can each have a room." Ryan stood up with a chuckle.

"You can't share a room with Geoff." Ryan said bitterly. Ray watched the two with sharp eyes before letting Geoff pull him into his lap. Geoff's arms latched around Ray's waist and Ray just sat back into it. Jack's face furrowed and he stood and walked over to Ryan, who was still sitting next to Michael and Gavin, who had intertwined fingers.

"Good to know you're homophobic now Ryan." Jack said softly. Ryan stood up then and walked away to the archway, leaning against the doorway as he thought his answer out. Jack crossed his arms and patiently waited.

"You know damn well I'm not homophobic." Ryan's voice was deep and he spoke slowly. He sounded dangerous. "You're the one that left."

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked. Ryan looked up, eyes full of hurt, and Jack really truly saw how much him leaving had hurt.  "Oh...oh no...."

"What's going on?" Gavin whispered. 

"I think they hooked up." Michael snickered. Ryan looked over at Geoff, and at his odd expression, Jack turned around and saw Ray still firmly in Geoff's arms.

"I obviously don't mind sharing." Geoff pressed his mouth to Ray's neck.

"What?" Gavin squeaked. Jack and Ryan smirked at each other before it finally clicked what Geoff was suggesting. 

"How long are we hiding out for?" Ryan asked.

"A week, maybe more. He's going to call when we're clear." Geoff dogged the question and pat at Ray's thigh. "Looks like it's a weeks vacation with six gay men under one roof."

"I wonder what's going to happen." Jack mused.

\--- ---

There were video games, getting high and drunk, eating delivery and sex. Between the six, nobody was bored.

Jack and Ryan had made up pretty quick -much to Ray's surprise- and joined the Puerto Rican in Geoff's giant bed. After it was all said and done, it had taken Gavin and Michael a total of two days before caving into the  polyamory . 

"Hey Michael." Geoff had cornered Michael in the hallway. "What are you doing?"

"Heading to the kitchen with Gav. We're going for some swimmy bevs." Michael gestured to his trunks and bare chest. "You want to join in?"

"Oh no,  on the contrary  we want you to join us."

"Who?" Michael asked. Geoff smirked and leaned in to kiss Michael. The a uburn headed man turned his face away and Geoff continued to kiss down his neck. "What are you doing Geoff?" The older man just smiled and kept kissing down his chest until he was on his knees in front of Michael. 

"Relax Michael. I can tell you want this." Geoff teased, pushing the trunks down to Michael's knees. Michael was already half hard, twitching as Geoff's breath ghosted over his dick.

"Oh god Geoff." 

"Oh yes Michael." Geoff's fingers were already slick -spit or lube,  Michael wondered- and he took Michael in his hand and pumped up and down slowly. Michael's lips parted with a heavy sigh, his head falling back with a dull thud against the wall, and a slight groan. Geoff's lips kissed the tip before taking the head into his mouth. Michael couldn't help but jerk his hips into the warm velvety depth and Geoff allowed him. Michael could hear a loud moaning in the kitchen and he vaguely recognized it as the noise Gavin made when he was being fucked, but he couldn't even think about it as Geoff hollowed his cheeks out and made the most sexual slurping sound that Michael had ever heard. Geoff bobbed his head faster and Michael was almost embarrassed at the whining that was emerging from his throat at that point. But it didn't stop him from reaching his slender fingers into Geoff's hair and fucking his mouth. He was getting close really fast and Geoff's jaw relaxed.

Geoff didn't have a gag reflex.

"Oh god this is so fucking hot." Michael muttered. "Geoff you are so sexy with my dick in your mouth." Geoff moaned an agreement around Michael's dick and he felt the vibrations in his hips. "I'm going to cum...oh shit, oh shit, fuck...." He became incoherent as his cock grew hard against Geoff's teeth. He came hard and Geoff swallowed most of it before standing back up and kissing Michael firmly on the mouth. He could hear Gavin now, and yes, his boyfriend was getting fucked hard judging by the sounds, but he was okay with it.

"Swimmy bevs? I think that's exactly what I need." Geoff said with a smirk.

\---

Gavin had gone ahead of Michael to prepare the whiskey and coke and found Ryan leaning against the counter with a smug smile. He had a coke opened on the counter already and lube sitting next to it.

"Hey Ry-bread!" Gavin said happily as he reached up to the tallest shelf for the American Honey. Ryan didn't say anything, just crossed the distance between them and pressed Gavin into the counter. "Whoa hey there...."

"Shut up." Ryan growled as he pressed his face into Gavin's next. Gavin squeaked at the contact and tried to spin around, but Ryan had him flush against the tile. 

"Ryan...what are you doing?" Gavin's voice trembled with arousal at the way Ryan's teeth nipped at his collarbone.

"I want you Gav. Please, let's do this." Ryan begged. Gavin paused as Ryan's fingers were ghosting around the edge of his trunks before he nodded. Ryan smiled and pulled Gavi n away from the counter and pushed him  against  the island . Gavin whined as the cold air his  ass but Ryan's spit slicked finger was teasing his entrance, prodding against him until he pushed in. Gavin pushed back with a moan and Ryan reached for the lube. It was ice cold against him but Ryan's warm fingers made a strong contradiction and he bucked as Ryan shoved a second finger inside him. It felt different than Michael's slender fingers -Ryan's were thicker- but good and he panted against the  tile  of the island.

Ryan didn't bother to add a third finger and instead slicked his cock up and slid inside Gavin with a fast shove. Gavin let out a cry and clutched at the island with sweating palms.

"Fuck Ry." Gavin moaned as Ryan started to move. He wasn't gentle, his nails raking up the Brit's back and fingers pressing bruises into his hips, and he took it all. His erection was painful until Ryan's wet hand reached forward and gave it a hard jerk and sent him to his orgasm. He came on the cabinet door as Ryan continued to fuck him, his throat producing such filthy words that had Ryan spilling into him almost immediately after. 

"Holy hell Gavin." Ryan whispered against the Brit's back, his sweating forehead resting between Gavin's shoulder blades.

"That was hot." Michael said  softly from the doorway. Gavin's head snapped up but at the sight of Geoff's swollen lips and Michael's flushed face, his shame seeped away. Ryan slipped out of Gavin and pulled the younger man's pants up for him. With a gentle pat against the butt, Ryan took his coke and lube and winked at Michael.

"Later, Lads." It held promise that sent their hearts racing.

And so after Geoff had sucked Michael off in the hallway and Ryan fucked Gavin in the kitchen, the two joined into the temporary polyamorous  relationship easily.

A week had turned into two without much notice before it all came crashing down. The five of them -excluding Geoff- were  in various states of undressed, laying out on the sectional couch with boxes of chinese in front of them  watching  the latest episode of American Horror Story.

"Tate is my favorite." Gavin said aloud as the commercial began to play. Michael looked down at the Brit that was laid across his chest.

"Gavin, he's psychotic." Michael pointed out. Ray scoffed.

"He deserves love too Michael." Ray defended Tate with a mouthful of pepper steak as Geoff strolled back into the room with a bottle of whiskey.

"Where've you been?" Jack wondered.

"Went out for more weed. Don't worry, I was careful." Geoff grabbed his box of food from the coffee table and plopped down next to Ray.

The prerecorded T.V. show cut out and the news flashed across the screen.

"-back to the explosion downtown. An  SUV containing six men drove into a downtown building before catching fire. Several people have been badly burnt and the police are encouraging people to stay away from the downtown area." Geoff's picture flashed across the screen. "Geoff Ramsey has been confirmed to be the driver, and he, along with the other five men, are deceased-"

Geoff's fingers scrambled for the remote and he turned the television off. The silence around the room crushed his heart.

"What the actual fuck was that?" Ray quietly asked. The other four looked to Geoff.

"Okay, so maybe I should explain-"

"You fucking think?" Michael shouted. Ryan groaned and shoved the  chinese  back onto the coffee table.

"You guys don't know my past. Let me just start of by saying I've never actually lied to you guys. You've got to believe me on that." Geoff looked at them pitifully.

"Then tell us the truth." Jack coaxed.

"I used to run with a gang Burnie took down. That wasn't my problem, the gang was pitiful and not very organized. I didn't owe anybody after that but the gang's second in command tracked me down. The bastard wouldn't let me leave. I thought Gus was dead. He...killed my family because I didn't want to join him. So I killed him." Geoff paused. "I got bored after that. I needed something to do and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted back into gang life. My attempts to start one  were in  vain. Nobody wanted to challenge Rooster Teeth."

"So you decided to take one over." Ryan said. Geoff nodded. "I suspected as much way back in the day."

"Rooster Teeth was already so successful. I might as well take over right? But I started out as a regular guy and I met all of you and fell in love." Geoff sighed.

"You love us?" Gavin asked. The room was silent as Geoff stared as his feet with a blush covering his face.

"I've loved you all for months. I couldn't take Rooster Teeth over. There was so much history to that gang and I couldn't ruin it. Nobody would follow me if I killed Burnie. So I decided to try again and start a new one. I wanted to start one with all of you."

"We would need funds...for that." Jack started to smile as he thought about the heist.

"And weapons." Michael said happily as he inventoried the weapons they took in his head. 

"You stole Burnie's best men." Ray said.

"You've killed us off publically so he wouldn't look for us." Ryan put the last pieces together. 

"So what's  our  name?" Gavin asked.

"Fake AH Crew." Geoff said with a smile.

\--- ---

The six were dead in Burnie's eyes -they figured- and they decided to stay together in an official relationship. The  heist money was used wisely -they wouldn't get more until they did another heist- and once the six formulated a plan, they begun to recruit. To have a cover, Geoff bought a small building that he renovated to house his gang HQ and his front business, Achievement Hunter. He'd hire people into the gang to help with the front business until the Fake AH Crew needed to do a drug drop or a small heist.

Over a few months, the gang grew.

Geoff was the boss, there was absolutely no doubt about that. Jack became second in command and Ryan took responsibility to sort newbies into different sections on top of his training of undercover operatives. Gavin headed the entire drug development and drop department while Michael added finances to his armorer responsibilities. Ray trained snipers and often helped Ryan with the sorting of newbies.

After the gang hit a certain size, Burnie had attempted to contact them. Geoff ignored all the attempts out of bitter spite.

Burnie, in his own anger, set Geoff's home on fire.

Only then did the six realize that Burnie knew they were alive and fighting back, and that he was livid. Geoff's plans changed and together, they decided it was time for a counterstrike.


	5. Chapter 5

Gavin curls up  in bed next to Michael and Ryan, anxiety pooling deep in his belly. Ryan, absolutely exhausted from the non-stop hussle of training newbies, passes out instantly. Michael stares at Gavin.

"What's wrong, love?"  Michael  asks.

"Geoff is brilliant and I love him but this is a rotten idea. Can't you feel it Michael?"

"What does it feel like?"

"An absolute horror. Everything inside me is screaming that we shouldn't do this."

"Maybe you're just nervous. It's been a long time since we've felt Burnie breathing down our backs. We've gotten really used to freedom."

"No Michael, it's a foreboding." 

"Like  de ja  vu?"

"Precisely."

"My boy, you know I'll protect you."

\--- ---

Geoff's revenge is incredibly simple. Burnie has too many enemies and several had gladly sold him out to Jack's men.

They were going straight to his home and they were going to kill him.

Ryan and Ray went in first, slipping silently into a window on the second story while Michael and Gavin picked their way in through the back door. They make sure to be quiet as the door opens just in case one of Burnie's live-in bodyguards are asleep inside.

Michael walks in first, gazing around the spotless kitchen wearily, while Gavin tails behind. His hand is atta ched  to Michael's arm firmly above the elbow and he let's Michael lead him around to a dining room that looks sparsely used.  They move on and into the entryway and open the unlocked front door to let Geoff and Jack in.

"That was really easy." Michael breathes. Geoff nods and the four split to search the first floor and returned empty handed. Geoff snaps at the foot of the staircase and waits for another snap. It eventually comes and the R and R connection fly down the staircase. Ray has removed his mask -his red face paint is smeared with sweat but still mostly intact- and is giving Ryan a nervous look.

"Geoff, there's nobody here." Ray whispers.

"This isn't right. Burnie is supposed to be here! This place doesn't even look lived in." Geoff says.

"We need to go." Gavin says suddenly. "I don't like this Geoff."

"Gav's right. Let's fuckin' go." Geoff agrees. The lights come on around them, blinding them, and the six make the worst decision they could: they sprint up the stairs. As they head up, a single gunshot rings out and Ray falls to the floor. His shoulder has exploded into blood and muscle tissue and he screams as he hits the  hard wood .

Everyone begins to panic. 

Geoff is pulling his gun out and Jack is pulling Ray up to the second floor while Ryan is screaming for everyone to get down. Michael and Gavin take off, back down the bloody staircase and right into a pair of large men in black suits. They have pistols but they don't shoot the two, instead watching as Michael and Gavin scurry back up the stairs. 

"Get your gun out boy!" Michael is shouting and Gavin's shaking hands reach around and grip the pistol. They hit the second floor just as Geoff is launched back down to the first and Gavin is sobbing.

"I-I-I t-t-told you g-g-guys!"

Michael's weapon is up and his finger is on the trigger, aiming at the man who has Jack in a chokehold. He's taking his breath, trying to stop the tremble in his hands, when Gavin's squeal of pain distracts him. He looks to the side and just as he sees Gavin lying face first on the ground, something heavy flies into his jaw and stars pass through his vision as he passes out.

\--- ---

Gavin wakes up to Jack shaking him roughly. His head throbs and his throat burns and smoke surrounds the two of them. They're still on the second floor, he knows his name is Gavin Free -he's twenty four years old- and he knows they're still in Burnie's empty house. Judging by the smoke, he also guesses the people that attacked them have set the house on fire. He feel surprisingly calm over all these facts though.

"It's on fire, isn't it?" Gavin asks to clarify. Jack nods and pulls his shirt up to his face to shield his nose. Gavin does the same and sits up to count his lovers. Geoff has Ryan against a broken window and is  Michael leaning on the wall next to them with tears tracking down his cheeks. Jack is moving back to the window and Gavin looks around, confused, his gut screaming out painfully.

"Where's Ray?" He asks loudly.

"They, uh, they took him." Jack says softly, helping Gavin to his feet. The sentence makes him feel as though he's been dunked in icy water, and he goes cold even though the room is boiling. Jack pulls him to the window. 

"...no...." Gavin hears Michael muttering between hiccups.

"We're going to jump. The pool is right below us." Geoff coughs out. Ryan nods and leaps first, landing right in the deep end, and Michael follows stiffly. Gavin is third, happy to be doused in cold water when he realizes how hot the house was. He kicks off the bottom of the pool tiredly and kicks to where Michael and Ryan have pulled themselves out. Jack and Geoff are next and they climb out, both crestfallen as they count five and not six. They're utterly  embarrassed , bruised and bloody but they’re alive. Ryan's been stabbed in the thigh and Geoff's forehead is split but those wounds can't compare to how raw they all feel without Ray.

They make it to the apartment in the early morning, dragging their feet against the dark carpet, and Geoff unlocks the door. He's holding his forehead shut with dirty fingers while Ryan is being mostly supported by Jack and they all slip inside their home. They look around for disturbances, things missing or disturbed, anything that looks out of place, but find nothing and meet back up in the kitchen . Jack has obtained a medical kit and is busy sewing Ryan's thigh shut on the counter as Gavin and Geoff sit at the island.

"Geoff, I told you it was a bad idea." Gavin says.

"Shut up." Geoff's voice is small over the sound of the coffee pot Michael is playing with.

"I told you it was a rotten idea and you just couldn't bloody listen, could you?" Gavin feels the words coming up like vomit and he is unable to stop the accusation from seeping into his tone until Geoff's hand slams down on the granite. 

"God damnit Gavin, don't you think I fucking know that?" They sit in an awkward silence as the coffee hisses in the background.

"We're going to get him back." Jack says confidently. "We've just got to be twice as sneaky now and twice as smart."

"Step one, we get Ray back." Michael says.

"Step two, we kill Burnie." Ryan adds as the  vicodin  kicks in.

"Step three, destroy Rooster Teeth." Geoff finishes with a humorless smile. "Let's start planning." 

The crew, sleep deprived and wounded and reeking of sweat and smoke, shove it all aside and plan the next great heist: saving Ray.


	6. Chapter 6

Ray was seventeen years old, trembling with anxiety and partly from the chill, but was standing in the back alley alone, waiting for his dealer.  His old dealer  got busted and this was his first time meeting Joel and he was hoping the prices were still the same. 

The man walked into the alley and Ray was taken back for a moment. The man was attractive. He had dark hair, evenly tanned skin and piercing brown eyes. He was only a head taller than Ray was, thin but muscular, and his lips were curled into a sly smile. Ray blinked as he realized Joel had been talking.

"What?"

"Are you high kid?" Joel asked.

"No! I'm here because I'm out of shit to get high with, old man. And I am not a kid." Ray said defensively. Joel held his arms up and chuckled.

"Hey, calm down." He laughed. "I'm just here to sell. But Max told me you're in with Red."

"Yeah but my boss is getting pissed that I smoke my own shit." Ray shrugged and held out a wad of twenties.

"You know...shouldn't you be in school?" Joel asked as he took the money. He didn't bother to count it and just shoved it in the pocket of his hoodie. He pulled out a sandw ich  baggie of weed and flicked it.

"Fuck school. What the fuck am I going to do with a high school degree in this town? Fuckin' work at a gas station and eventually get my head blown off when Blue decides to heist? Na, fuck that." Ray took the baggie from him and shoved it in his backpack. "But if we don't hur t  this up I'm going to be late."

"For someone who doesn't care about a degree, you sure seem to want to get there." Joel pointed out.

"If I get caught skipping again, they'll take me to my dad's shitty apartment and he'll just paint me with more bruises so I'd rather be at school." Ray admitted.

"Well, there's no arguing with that logic." Joel fished around in his pocket for a business card and held it out to Ray. "Call me if you need to escape."

"Oh...." Ray took it and tucked it into his pocket. "Thanks man." Ray half waved as he walked out of the alley and ignored the way his skin tingled  as he felt Joel's eyes on him.

\--- 

Ray ended up missing first period as he took the long way to school but he didn’t really need spanish class. He was fluent -for all the fuckin' jokes made about him- and passed every test easily. He snuck into the hallway and shoved Michael Jones into a locker with a laugh.

"What the fuc-oh! BrownMan!" Michael high fived his best friend and the two set towards the bathroom.

"I finally got a good dealer. Max got busted. They sent Joel." Ray shrugged.

"Joel isn't part of my gang." Michael said.

"I'd hope not. Technically we're supposed to hate each other." Ray pushed the bathroom door open and the two walked in. It was empty during the passing periods and would hopefully remain empty until they managed to blaze it. 

"Red versus Blue." Michael reminded him while rolling his eyes. "The longest feud to ever take place."

"I'm over it." Ray held the baggie out.

"He must've thought you were cute Ray!" Michael pointed out a pre-rolled blunt. "Look here! He's already got one rolled up for us."

"Shut up and just blaze man." Ray said hurriedly. "I need some bud in my life."

Ten minutes later, Michael walked out of the bathroom -reeking of weed but nobody in the school cared- while Ray pulled out his phone and texted the unknown number on the business card.

'Thanks for the stuff man. It's good.'

The number texted back faster than Ray had expec ted , almost as if Joel had been waiting for him.

'No problem Ray. Skipping class?'

'Too high for math. It makes my thinking box hurt.'

'I'll drive around the school and pick you up.'

Ray's face screwed up with confusion and a red flag went off. 

'Why?'

'If you're going to skip, might as well do it where you won't get caught.'

Ray's drug fogged brain couldn't argue with that and he quickly typed out an 'Alright' before collecting his stuff and leaving. The hallway was empty and he was able to make his way to the exit without being stopped and he found Joel's car. It was black, sleek and expensive looking, and he climbed in. Joel smiled over at him and they sped off. The radio was on but the  talk show was too low for Ray to make out more words than 'finance' and 'silver' and 'marketing' so he tuned it out to focus on his dealer.

"So where are we going?" Ray asked carefully. Joel turned into an apartment complex -drug dealers must make a lot more than he thought- that wasn't too far from the school and parked his car.

"We're going to hang at my place for a bit. You were my only sell for the morning so I have a couple hours to kill." 

"Whatever man." Ray followed him out of the car and into the first floor apartment. Joel unlocked the building and ushered his high friend inside. The apartment wasn't large but it was expensively furnished. The couches were leather and his television was huge, he had gaming systems and an entire shelf full of X-Box games on a glass bookshelf. The area was open and Ray felt more relaxed in a strangers  home than he felt at his own.

He sat down on the couch as Joel turned the X-Box on.

"Call of Duty?" Joel held out another controller and Ray nodded.

And there in those few hours is where Joel and Ray got to know each other. They parted as friends when Joel had to take Ray back to school and he had to get back to work, but whenever Ray needed a hook up, he always called Joel. It went on for months, the casual hanging out, t he random text messages that made the two of them smile, until Ray's eighteenth birthday.

Joel's phone rang in the middle of the deal and he took his phone out to see Ray's name flashing across the screen. He shoved the bag of coke at the junkie and snatched the hundreds from the guy's bony hand and walked away to answer the phone.

"What's up Ray?" Joel asked quietly. Ray's voice was catching on the other side as if he'd been crying and the sound sends Joel on high alert. "Ra y,  talk to me."

"Please...I have now here else to go. I can't go home anymore, and I can't go to the hospital." Ray whimpered.

"Where are you?" Joel asked, runn ing from the alley. He looked for his car -oh, where the fuck did he park it now- and Ray cried on the other side.

"I don't know, outside my apartment? In the alley right next to the complex."

"Don't move Ray, I'm on my way to get you." Joel told him as he found his car and slid into the driver's seat. He hung the phone up and sped towards the south side of Los Santos as fast as he could.

\--- 

Ray was beaten. That much was clear to Joel as he pulled up and Ray got into the car. He held his ribs with a shaking arm and nursed his swollen face delicately. Joel didn't ask any questions as he drove to his own apartment and helped Ray into his house. He noticed Ray's backpack was full of clothing instead of the usual school stuff and he set it gently on the dining room table on his way into his bathroom. He sat Ray on the edge of the tub and pulled out a small first aid kit.

"What happened?" Joel finally asked. Ray's eyes were leaking tears and he cleared his throat.

"My dad found out I was running with Red and beat the hell out of me. Said since I was eighteen I could take care of myself now and all but kicked me out. I can't go back." Ray said softly. Joel dabbed at the split lip carefully and knew what he was going to do.

"You can stay with me." He offered. Ray stiffened.

"I'm not looking for charity man. I just need a place to crash for now. I'd stay with Michael, but he'd Blue and I'd be fucked if the boss caught me with him."

"No, stay with me. I'm asking you." Joel caught his broken gaze and smiled weakly. "Please Ray."

"Why?" Ray asked again with only a slight break to his voice.

"I care about you...I mean...I care in a very personal way." Joel admitted. "I want you to be with me...here."

"Really?" 

"Yes Ray, you're perfect." Joel whispered, leaning in and capturing Ray's mouth with his own. Joel's lips were hot but Ray's were still swollen and chapped and yet, the kiss was better than any he'd had before. Joel's hands were empty all of a sudden and his fingers are worming across Ray's ribs, pushing to see if they're broken or just bruised, and feeling excited when it's the latter. He picked Ray up and rushed him into the bedroom. Joel set Ray on the bed gently and pulled the younger man's shirt off, trying to not look at the array of black and yellow and purple that covers the his dark skin.

Ray pulled Joel back to his mouth and Joel couldn't help but climb on top of him and grind down. 

Ray hadn't gone more than fooling around with another man before, and damn it all if he would let Joel know.

He rocked his hips upward and Joel moaned into his mouth. Ray's fingers danced around Joel's zipper and Joel paused.

"Ray-"

"No shut up, we're doing this."

And Ray let Joel make love to him, even though he was bruised and aching, he felt loved and he knew it was real. 

\--- ---

Ray opens his eyes slowly. His head feels foggy and throbs in time with his heartbeat. After a moment, he is able to open his eyes all the way and he takes in his surroundings. He knows where he is...single room lit by a single cheap fluorescent bulb, concrete floors with a drain under his wooden chair, wooden slat walls surrounding him on all sides. But he knows the room is a lot bigger than what he can see. He knows that behind him, the room extends out to a staircase and a dark wood door and people can sneak up on him. He's zip tied -the plastic digs into his already bleeding wrists- and wearing only sweatpants -they even took his fucking boxers- and he's sweating. His ass is numb, probably from how long he'd been sitting stationary in the chair, and his feet are cold. He looks up and spots an analog clock that reads out the time and date in bright blue letters. 

The worst day so far had been the first, when Burnie walked down the stairs with harsh heavy steps and told him what had happened.

That the home had been set on fire with his loved ones inside of it. The five were dead and they wouldn't be coming to save him. Ray's chest burnt when he heard it, disbelief thick in his throat as he tried to stif le  the sobs. He'd once believed himself to be strong enough to carry on if he fell in love and they were taken from him, but he realized in that moment that he wasn't...he truly wasn't. He begged Burnie to kill him. He had lost his will to live and if he could have, he would have thrown himself to the floor and wailed and beat the ground like a three year old. 

Burnie wouldn't kill him. He wouldn't even touch him. He just looked on in disgust as Ray's sobbing sent tears streaming down his beaten face, along with spit and snot, and he was unable to wipe it away. And if that wasn't the worst news he'd received, Joel stepped into the picture.

"I fucking loved you!" Joel cried. His eyes looked bruised as if he hadn't slept in weeks and he reeked of whiskey. "I mourned you when I thought you were dead."

"You didn't mourn shit, Joel. It's been months since you've so much as touched me." Ray said harshly through the hiccups. "You're too busy fucking Adam."

"I just want you to know that I hate you. I despise every fucking fiber of your being and I want you to know I watched that house burn with your lovers inside of it. You're going to die down here alone, you miserable fuck." Joel shouted, stumbling from the room with Burnie and never returning.

That had been fifteen days ago.

Every day, three times a day, someone came down and took him to the small bathroom. His zip ties were never cut -the person that wore a mask that was supposed to torture him pulled his pants down- and he never used his hands. The torturer fed him soup and water, just enough to keep him alive. Once a day, Burnie came down to visit, and Ray figured that the boss didn't have much to do if he had time to come down. He hadn't even asked questions, which was just fine with Ray.

Not that he'd cave or anything.

But fuck, Ray was hot and cold at the same time and he was broken -his wounds were starting to get infected- and he didn't know which was worse, feeling like he was on the brink of death or knowing that he was honestly nowhere near it.

Fifteen days and he was beginning to believe the five really were dead. Surely if they were alive they'd have come to save him by now....

Burnie comes down alone, looking rougher than he ever did when Ray worked for him, his hair a greasy mess and his eyes sporting exhausted bruises, the sleepless nights dragging him down more than they ever would Ray, and Burnie brings his heavy hand down to Ray's aching cheek.

"Tell me everything about the Fake AH Crew." Burnie demand. Ray's swelling lips hang  open in shock.

"What?" Ray's voice is scratchy from underuse.

"Tell me everything about the Fake AH Crew." Burnie repeats with the same ferocity. He moves closer to Ray and the younger man can see how oily Burnie's skin has become. Almost like he forewent a shower to torture his prisoner. 

"Why should I tell you anything?" Ray cries. "They're dead! Why the fuck does it matter?" The words sting his tongue with harsh reality.

"Your fucking crew is giving me hell! It didn't die out when it's leaders did, you fucking moron! Your crew is driving me crazy! Ramsey must have left instructions for you if you didn't come back." Burnie explains.

"We didn't, I swear we didn't." Burnie holds his hand up high and Ray can't help the flinch. "Geoff  did n't  plan on failing."

"All crime bosses have back up plans." Burnie tells him. Ray smiles without humor, a smile that's more of a  scow l .

"That's why Geoff was such a great boss. He didn't make room for failure."

Burnie rears back and drives his fist into Ray's bruised ribs. Ray can't hold back the strangled grunt as the air is knocked from his lungs.

"I'll be back later Narvaez. You'd better have some answers."

\--- 

Day twenty seven is what sent Ray into insanity. It made him into a cold, heartless man. Sure, the slaps and punches and kicks bruised his skin, but on the inside, he was steel. He no longer spoke except for the occasional  hiss of pain he couldn't hold back -he is still mostly  human after all-.

And on day thirty four, when nobody came, Ray accepted their deaths and made his  final transition into madness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you that are here purely for the Joelay..this is the end of that train. Hop off after this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Ray remembered waking up and going to school, passing just enough to graduate, smoking weed with his dealer boyfriend and partying it up with Michael when he could. The kid was Blue and he was Red, but Michael was the best friend he'd ever had.

Ray had fucked up though, focusing more on school instead of dealing, and Serge was pissed that Ray's stach was disappearing without monetary gain. Joel let Ray move in, even with the two in different gangs, and that took some pressure off the kid. One night, Joel came home with a crazed look in his eyes. 

"Red's put a hit out on you." Joel spat into the smokey atmosphere. Ray, who had just barely lit up, snuffed the joint and paused his Call of Duty game.

"What?" 

"Serge put a hit out on you. Only worth about half a million, but still enough to catch some freelancer's eyes. Come on, I've been begging Burnie all day to save your sorry ass." Joel grabbed at Ray's elbow and pulled him off the couch. 

"Wait, no! I don't want to be in Rooster Teeth!" Ray argued. Joel shook his head and pointed towards the door.

"I've got one shot to save your life Ray. I love you, okay? I can't let you die." Ray paused and stared hard at Joel for a long time.

"I love you, too" Ray finally said as he pushed his feet into his vans. "So Burnie is going to save me?"

"Well...not quite. He's going to do you a favor, and so you'll be in his debt." Joel led them from the apartment, locked it behind them, and walked Ray to his car. He climbed into the driver's seat and started the vehicle. 

"He needs drug dealers that bad?"

"I told him about your shooting." Joel admitted. Ray scoffed.

"It's not that great." Ray mumbled.

"Yeah well don't tell Burnie you think that. He'd kill you faster than a freelancer would if you turned out to be a fake." Joel said. "Besides, you know you're good."

\--- ---

Geoff took Rooster Teeth down simply yet viciously. For the month after the kidnapping and attempted murder, the five crew members hid, doing whatever they could to stay hidden. They used others to pass along orders, to "call the shots", so that Burnie assumed someone else had taken the crew over. And while they hid, they watched Burnie's routine. 

Geoff especially enjoyed watching Burnie go crazy as random attacks came from nowhere. 

Geoff had been busy during his confinement, busy capturing Rooster Teeth employees and recruiting them into Fake AH, plotting and always looking for Ray. Eventually, members heard the rumors of better treatment, better pay and all around a better atmosphere, and willingly came around on their own. All Geoff had to do after that was wait until the majority of Rooster Teeth employees belonged to him.

The five head crew members drive up to the building and walk in without fear. The five have grown cold and heartless in their confinement, emotions being shoved into the background so that losing another one of their loves would never sting the same way again. 

Geoff goes in first wearing dark jeans, a black tee and black boots. His handlebar mustache has been styled to perfection and he has foregone the mask. His cold eyes took in the empty building, his ears open to hear any disturbances. His left hand twitches around the pistol as he reminds himself that he will not be made a fool of again. They would not make the same mistake twice.

Ryan and Jack flank behind him on either side, both wearing the same attire, dark jeans, dark tees and boots. Ryan, on top of his golden hair, has a gold crown that is cocked back slightly to rest on the back of his head. His face is covered by half a skull mask and underneath that he has red face paint smeared along his smooth skin. Jack's beard is hidden beneath a red bandana -it was longer now that it had been a month ago, Geoff notes- and his hands tighten around a sawed off shotgun. Compared with Ryan's Ak-47, the weapons seem impractical but violent, and Geoff is proud that they have decided against the normal weapons. 

Gavin and Michael walk in last, both wearing long black military jackets over the dark jeans and tees, both carrying weapons just as impractical as the Gents. Michael has long k-bar knives in each hand, and a long broadsword -nicknamed Mogar- strapped to his back. Gavin has an automatic bow clutched tightly to his torso with a quiver of arrows slung across his back. For how illogical the bow and arrow combination is in a gang setting, Gavin's shots never miss, and he is deadly with steel force carp tipped arrows. 

They walk straight to the elevator cautiously as their weapons remain undrawn, always on the alert but willing to spare anyone that isn't Burnie, Matt or Joel. Memories threaten to flood their attention, but all the training recently has given them the ability to push it aside to focus. Ray is hidden somewhere, and so is Burnie. They will reunite with their love and murder the man that took him. 

The elevator gives an ominous ding as they reach the top level, and the door slides open. The lights flicker but the hallway is empty and they slink towards Burnie's door. It's open and they can see him sitting behind his desk.

He looks as thought he'd been expecting them, sitting casually with his feet propped up on his desk and his hands behind his head, a tired scowl on his sweating face.

"Hello there Burns." Geoff greets the man with a crooked smile. He wants to play with his food before he eats it today.

"Mr. Ramsey." Burnie greets back but he doesn't move.

"You have something that belongs to me-"

"You mean that broken piece of shit Puerto Rican? Yeah, he's down in my torture basement." The air grows heavy and Ryan actually growls.

"You motherfuck-" Jack is cut off by Burnie's low chuckle.

"Probably pretty psychologically damaged by now. He's under the impression you five are dead. I can go ahead and deal with him if you'd like?"

"Oh, so he's damaged then?" Ryan fingers the trigger hazardously. "We should probably thank you then."

"And why is that Fake AH Crew?" Burnie's condescending tone has Michael's jaw snapping shut.

"You helped us realize our weakness." Geoff says. "We were our own worst enemies in the fact that we literally needed all six of us to properly function. Without Ray, it felt like a train wreck. But then, we realized, that to properly lead a crew, we couldn't be fumbling around each other. So we've...hardened up."

"Hardened up?" Burnie's feet fall from the desk and he looks at all the men.

"You're going to die anyway, might as well know everything." Michael starts out. "After we realized that Ray was still alive, we spent a lot of time apart. We've only come together for large jobs lately. It's made us able to put emotions on the back burner to complete said jobs. It's really nice to have each other, of course, and we're still in love, but now we can see that the mission always goes on regardless."

"Since you've made Ray broken for us, you've saves us time and hurt." Gavin shrugs. Burnie's eyes widen as he realizes they're being serious, dead serious -holy hell he really fucking did it this time- and he knows why they've waited to rescue Ray. He's literally led them to him and killed himself when he could have been running this entire time.

"Oh shit." Burnie whispers as he comes to this conclusion. Ryan approaches the desk with an insane grin.

"Oh, yes."

\---

Gavin was never much for torture, but watching Burnie bleed gave him a sick satisfaction. He remembers back when he and Dan had skipped over here before Uni, tons of cash and youth and cocky attitude, way back when he didn't realize that he was going to be stuck here for years trying to pay off he and Dan's fucking debt after Dan had gotten killed. 

He was alone after that night. He and Dan hustle some shithead at a bar -their terrible, obviously  fake  ID's and Gavin's slick tongue get them in -, betting too much they didn't have on a quick game of pool. They didn't understand through the haze of too strong liquor they were hustling hustlers and then the pool sharks were dragging them into an alley and holding guns to their heads. Dan was crying -fuckin' little bitch, Gavin thought bitterly- and Gavin was trying to talk his way out of the trouble when an older man approached them from behind. He managed to get the hustlers to let the two of them go and as they walked away, Burnie introduced himself and offered them a way to pay off their debt.

"Just for a few weeks, until you're all paid off." Burnie promised. Gavin was weary but Dan agreed, shaking the man's hand hard and thanking him for saving their lives. Gavin stretched his hand out and took it as a gunshot rang out and Dan fell to the ground, dead.

And Burnie made him pay back both debts, working to get the Brit some fake documents so that he could stay and work for the man. He was in hell every day, staying in the man's home until he could save up enough to move out to a hole in the wall studio down the road from Burnie's. 

Burnie's fingernails have been ripped from his fingers, which have been broken and all but ripped off. His face is full of pain and he blubbers incessantly but Geoff just watched as Jack and Michael take turns cutting lacerations into the man's thighs.

Burnie cries out as the knife is shoved  deep into the flesh right above his knee.

"Are you sorry yet, you piece of shit?" Geoff's voice is deep and taunting over the wails of pain that fill the room. Michael is grinning, even as his face is splattered with blood from ripping the knife out, and Ryan is chuckling. Jack and Gavin share a look, both happy that Burnie is getting what he deserves, but equally happy they don't have to participate in breaking every one of  Burnie's  toes. 

"I'll never be sorry Ramsey. I'm just sorry I didn't kill him." Burnie spits. Ryan stands up straight from where he's leaning against the desk and strolls casually up to Burnie. The man doesn't struggle against his bindings but pants in pain as Ryan's fingers tap the broken ones.

"Where’s the key, Burns? Still in your fucking pocket?" Ryan reaches into Burnie's suit jacket and yanks a small golden key from inside. "You're a fuckin idiot."

Geoff nods his head towards the door and Ryan heads out to find Ray.

\---

Ray hears the door open and stirs. His ass is throbbing against the wood, and his gunshot pulses every time his heart beats, but he still has only moments to mentally prepare himself for another beating. He goes deep inside his head and pulls the death wish out. He's gotten good at it as of late, turning it all off and craving nothing but death. By the time the Doc Martens are in his peripherals, he's mentally counting off day thirty seven as a dream. As if out  of a dream, Ryan steps into his view. He's got some blood splattered on the bottom of his jeans and on his finger tips, but he's still fucking perfect. He has insanity in his eyes that sends Ray's blood south.

"Ray." Ryan's voice is cold but there's a flush coming onto his cheeks.

"You came for me." Ray's voice is scratchy from his silence. Ryan approaches Ray carefully as if the captivity had made his wild.

"Geoff needed us to wait until the timing was right." Ryan said as he drew a knife from his pocket. He cut away the zip ties as carefully as he could, frowning when he saw the raw state of Ray's wrists and ankles, and watches as Ray tries to sit up. 

"Are...are you all alive?" Ray asks with a gasp of pain. Ryan notices the state of his boyfriend, the bruises and the infected gun shot  wound. "Are you all as broken as I am?"

Ryan looks into Ray's eyes and brings their lips together carefully. It was passionate even though it was short, full of love, and when Ryan pulls away, Ray tries to follow him up, knowing he isn't alone in his suffering.

"We are all alive and just as broken Ray."

Ray sits up slowly this time, managing to make it up all the way, but the creaking of his broken ribs has Ryan bending down and picking the younger man up bridal style -I know it hurts Ray, I  know  it hurts- and carrying him out of the basement that had become his reality for what he thought was the rest of his life .

"Where is...." Ray can't finish the sentence out of fear. Ryan doesn't need him to.

"Upstairs. Do you want to watch?"

"...no...." Ray's voice is quiet and Ryan respects Ray's need to just be away from Rooster Teeth. He takes him up and out to the car that's parked crookedly on the curb and tucks him away in the back seat. Ryan hands his iPhone over.

"Call us if you need us. We're going to finish up." Ryan tells him. Ray nods and locks the door as Ryan leaves him in the car. He takes a deep breath, and then two, and then opens his eyes. He knows his loves will take care of whatever is left of Burnie and he won't have to worry about a thing.

\--- ---

The man watches as The Mad King leaves little Ray alone in the car and debates about the next move. The five are preoccupied upstairs, but if they come down and find Ray missing again, he feels they will hunt him freely with nobody to oppose them. They have grown cunning and smarter in the last month, aware of how dangerous  atta chments  are, and they won't let the man out of their sights.

If he leaves Ray alone, then he leaves with the rest of the crew. Five will become six again and they will be the most powerful crew to ever hold Los Santos. They will capture it and they will not let go, and he wonders if maybe just snatching the youth and killing him now will be easier.

He strokes the small goatee and the man behind him gestures to the unprotected car with a sticky bomb.

What risk has bigger payoff?

\--- ---

Burnie is in pieces when they finish him. Michael, Jack, Geoff and -when he returns, trembling with anger- Ryan cut him up with Michael's knives, letting him bleed out all over his floor, soaking themselves in his blood. Gavin stays clean, purely for the fact that blood is  moist  and he can't take that, and he walks to his old office to find his safe still pressed under his desk and locked. He quickly unlocks it to grab his small jerry can -purely for emergencies, he swears- and lighter from his days of smoking. The pack of Marlboro's sits there on the top shelf, half open, only two cigarettes left, and the temptation is always great....

He comes back to them smiling at each other, and then to him when they realize what he wants to do.

"Burn the fucker down with his empire." Gavin says and Geoff nods. He leaps forward and kisses Gavin's mouth hard, so pleased that they are finally free.

"Let's burn." Geoff agrees.

Gavin and Michael coat the office with the gasoline while the Gent's take the elevator downstairs. Team Nice Dynamite takes the stairs, soaking the steps and, once they reach the first floor, they leave the empty can on the floor. Geoff has the honors of actually setting the place on fire, the five of them standing in front of the door while he flicks the match and the floor lights up brighter than the Fourth of July. 

They join Ray in the car, who isn't at all spooked that four of them are soaked in blood, and they drive to Achievement Hunter where they have a medical setup -a fucking closet and a ditsy blonde nurse- ready for him.


	8. Chapter 8

Kara Eberle  is a fantastic medic, regardless of the rumors going around that she is as bubble-headed as she is  blonde. When she heard the Fake AH Crew taking in new members, she was eager to let herself be found and taken to the headquarters. When she was woken up by an eleven p.m. phone call to be in her little medic room or else, she didn't even change out of her pink sweats and black tank top.

She waited for Ray to be brought to her with the news that he'd been held in the Rooster Teeth dungeon. She was eager to help him because she had yet to prove her usefulness to Geoff. He was known for not keeping people that were useless.

Ray had some minor internal bleeding, broken and fractured ribs, several bad lacerations that were infected -not even looking at the horrid gunshot wound that tore his shoulder to bits- and a concussion. He'd live, she made sure of that. 

"I'm not sure about the mental...implications of the torture, sit." She says. "I have him on a heavy dosage of vicodin. He asked to not be put out completely." Geoff nods  and says  nothing,  which -she is embarrassed to admit-  terrifies her.

The polyamorous relationship confuses  her. They are so cold to each other but so very in love, almost as if they deny  the pleasure to themselves. She can  see it in their eyes, the adoration and the pure need to be near one another, and in the way they move  together, with gentle touches and soft spoken words, no matter how cruel those words may be.

She i s scared of each of them individually just as much as she is  of them together.

Geoff is her boss, the crew boss, and he is silently always watching everyone. With just a word, unproductive employees disappear without a trace. Ryan is utterly mad, his crown a now permanent fixture and his eyes always retaining some type of lunacy, and she can't stand to be alone with him. Gavin is broken in two, shattered into pieces and using them to hide his true self. She'd once walked in on he and Ryan holding each other, and she watched his face change into the harsh drug productions boss she knew, smart and solid and incredibly handsome.

Jack is still a silent giant, always training as if he was still a boxer instead of running the boxing empire. Michael is just angry all the time. His rage had become le gendary , earning him the nickname of Rage Quit -although nobo dy  used it to his face- when old Rooster Teeth members make snide remarks of Fake AH being a lesser crew. Michael had made his first appearance after that moment -since the fire- and in front of everyone, tore the man apart with nothing more than a k-bar and his bare hands.

Kara brings herself back to reality as Geoff speaks softly.

"So when can we see him?"

"Now, if you'd like, sir, but he's extremely high. It'll be a couple of weeks of bedrest at least, and after that it'll have to be light duty for another month or two." She tells him. Geoff waves a hand, a clear dismissal, and she scurries off, pleased.

There, she thinks, now I'm the bubblehead that fixed one of the six.

\--- ---

"Tell us what happened." Geoff asks Ray. The younger man's eyes are hazy and his hands are trembling, but he nods and begins the story with slightly slurred speech.

"I blacked out after the gunshot and I woke up alone in the basement. I was wearing sweatpants, and I was tied to that fucking chair, and Burnie came down and told me you were all dead. I didn't believe him at first, because he brought Joel down and Joel yelled at me some...." Ray's lower lip trembles as he remembers Joel's words. "It was the worst pain, imagining you guys dead. I begged Burnie to kill me. I can't live without you guys. I cried until I was snotty and sobbing and sick. My tongue was heavy in my mouth and dry and my head pounded. He never got my gunshot looked at, just came down and beat me every day for fifteen days." Ray's eyes are leaking steadily but his voice is strong -regardless of the tremble- and he continues after a deep breath. "I figured I'd eventually die, if not from a beating then from infection. Burnie was the only one to beat me though. Another little scrawny fuck would come down and feed me but he never hurt me."

"Oh Ray." Jack's face is wet and his hands are clenched on his lap.

"After those fifteen days, Burnie came down and asked me about the crew and why they were still fighting. I got lippy and he beat me, and after that I just decided not to talk anymore. So he beat me and beat me.... He was dis heveled  more and more, exhausted and greasy and bothered and I just wouldn't talk. He always asked about the crew and was very adamant about you five being dead. I believed it."

"Ray." Gavin whimpers from his spot in Michael's arms.

"I'm not the same man I was when I was taken. I'm different now." Ray is embarrassed to admit it, but Ryan smiles.

"I told you that we weren't the same either. I meant it, Ray." Ryan reminds him. Ray's face brightens a little at the news.

"We are all the same type of people now, exactly who we need to be to lead this empire. We are who we need to be for the Fake AH Crew to succeed. And we will be together from now on." Geoff leans over an d  kisses Ray's mouth gently. Ryan runs his fingers through Ray's hair. "From now on, we fuckin' lead. We send other to do our dirty work."

\--- ---

It takes months for Ray to completely heal, although he is scarred from a surgery and his bullet wound. He takes up his position in training snipers but rarely let them in a heist.

Ryan trains the best undercover agents so well that Los Santos Police Department is crawling with Fake AH operatives.

Gavin heads the drug production and sales, and he often makes trades with lower gangs that have merged with Fake AH. He is the only one of the crew that is regularly out on the streets with the job.

Michael is in charge of all weaponry, all trading of guns and all the gangs that owe them, as well as gang finances and records of gangs that had merged but are not quite through with initiation. If anyone needed a load, they have to go through Michael, who would approve or deny them with Geoff's permission.

Jack  is second in command, in charge of initiation and new gang members, including job selection and heist information. He makes sure all jobs are successful and backed all of Geoff's decisions. He also runs Geoff's boxing rink, which fights twice a month out of an abandoned building near the city limits.

Geoff heads the number one gang in Los Santos, and he is on his way to heading the most powerful crew in America. All he needs is to branch out to other cities. Every once in a while, an opposing crew is destroyed before they can begin. Every so often, a crew member will split and attempt to start up a new crew. All attempts are in vain though, because Geoff knows about it before they can even being to recruit. Nobody stands up to Fake AH and survives.

Rumors travel around about the leaders, who have become untouchable. How cruel the six are and how they had become that way.

Some say that the six were spawned by the devil,  all pieces of him in different bodies. Many assumed their pasts were rough, filled with death and despair until they finally lost their minds, and they found each other in all that hell. Another rumor goes around frequently  that one of them had been kidnapped and tortured, and the other five went insane without him while the one went insane in his captivity. The least exciting one was that the six were indebted to each other for life.

They live with each other in a large mansion on the outskirts of Los Santos, build after Achievement Hunter really took off. Nobody knows  that Geoff Ramsey and his little AH Crew are  actually leaders of the Fake AH Crew surprisingly enough, and they didn't care to share. The commentary between the six made them bundles of YouTube money. 

Geoff w akes  up every morning surrounded by his loves. They  always  slowly wake up  -Ryan, then Michael, then Ray and Gavin together, Geoff and finally Jack- and make breakfast together in their large kitchen, watch T.V. for a little while or go for a swim or work out  if they weren't too high but they spen d  every afternoon at the Fake AH Headquarters. 

Geoff le ads  his gang and his business as successful as his relationship.

Little did he know, someone has been  watching.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This used to be I will fear no evil, but I've decided it's more of a continuation rather than a sequel (they aren't the same I promise lol) so sorry if you were obsessed with the other one...it'll be here from now on.

 

 

 

And there it was. 

The truth. 

In a single manilla envelope in front of him, he knew it would shatter every single part of him into a million pieces. 

Burnie wore a smile that didn't hold any amusement and looked pained as he slid the envelope towards Joel. 

"I'm sorry." Was all he said before standing and leaving Joel alone in his office. 

Joel had already been in the office more in the past   week   than he had in months and that alone set him on edge. The first time was to ask him to keep an eye on Geoff Ramsey, the second was to inform him that Ray Narvaez had gone missing, and now to report that he'd found him. 

His shaking fingers found the edge and pried the flap over. He noted that the gummy side was all torn up -Burnie had been the first to see, of course- and dumped the contents out on the table. Pictures of Ray and a typed email that had a small coffee stain on the top right hand corner fell out and he gazed longingly at one in particular, the one of Ray holding a gun by his side and entering the bank. He looked so young and carefree, like his older self before he'd gone and been terrible to him. 

Ray had trusted Joel when he was very young and Joel -he was only a fucking human, okay- had gone and ruined it all. He couldn't help but wonder bitterly if Ray would have stayed with them if he'd been the boyfriend he was supposed to be and not fucking around with Adam. A tear slipped down his dry cheek and he reached out, sliding that picture off to the side to look at the one under it.  

Ray laying out by the pool, thin wiry body shining in the sun from either water or sweat, a joint in between his fingers and a casual smile across his face. 

Ray in the arms of Geoff, his head tucked under the older man's chin, arms wrapped tightly around each other, both shirtless and lips swollen. 

Ray's face joined to Michael's by the mouth, once again outside at the pool, the only light illuminating them being Gavin's cell phone. 

Gavin's head rolled back and leaning on the glass door, his mostly naked body visible, while Ray's head peeked out in front of Gavin's hips.... 

Jack and Geoff, arm in arm, watching as Ryan and Gavin battled Michael and Ray in the pool at a game of chicken. 

Tears stained his tanned skin and he blinked them away while shoving the pictures to the floor. The note fell slowly into his lap and he pulled it up to eye level.  

Mr. Narvaez is with Mr. Ramsey in his house on the borders of town. They believe they have escaped your grasps and are seeming to enjoy a long vacation. I do not believe they are a threat at this time. They are also not being held there against their own free will. I think they will remain hidden and avoid  confrontation  in any way possible. 

The note wasn't signed by anyone and Joel didn't really care. His heart beat painfully against his ribcage -he couldn't fucking catch a breath- and his hands trembled numbly. His head was hollow, his mouth dry and his eyes stung from unshed tears. He took a shaking breath and crumbled the note in his fist  , gasping as the reality truly hit him. 

Ray had left him, and he'd left him for five other men. 

Five other men had been better to his little Ray than he'd been. 

He stood on quivering legs and made his way from the office in a hurry.  

\--- --- 

Adam found him at his apartment that he'd had since before he'd met a broken eighteen year old that he'd fell in and out of love with, clutching an oversized sweater to his chest and sobbing. Adam couldn't be mad -although he was jealous- and he knocked on the bedroom door before entering. Even if he loved Joel and he knew that the man hadn’t loved Ray in a long time, he still couldn't sit on the bed where Ray and Joel had made love. He was too proud for that.  

Instead he knelt in front of Joel, placed his large hands on Joel's knees, and pressed his lips to Joel's. For a moment, Joel was frozen. He didn't move and Adam was afraid he'd made the wrong decision, and then, Joel was kissing him back. He tasted off -like salty tears and rotten breath- but Adam forced his affections in between their tongues. 

"I love you Joel." He whispered when they pulled away panting. "Even if you still love him." 

"I can't help it." Joel admitted. His eyes were downcast and red and Adam hated the way it looked. 

"He wasn't your first love, and he wasn't the last. You saved his life. Of course you loved him. He adored you, I'm sure." 

"Yeah and then I went and shacked up with you when he and I fought, and then I was spending more time with you then him. And I'd left him before I'd really left him...fuck...he had nowhere to go. He depended on me and I shit all over him." Joel chewed his lower lip. "Just like his fucking dad." 

"You are nothing like that piece of shit." Adam might not have liked Ray, but he wasn't heartless, and he felt some sort of empathy over it. "You're amazing." 

"Shut the fuck up." 

"Really though, Joel." 

\--- --- 

Joel stumbled back into work -he wasn't that drunk, really- and into his office. He didn't know how much work he'd really get done today but he'd made an appearance and that was all that mattered. 

"Joel." Burnie stood in the doorway with glassy eyes and Joel's throat closed up. 

"No, oh no." Joel's voice cracked and Burnie gestured for him to follow. Burnie might have been one of his oldest friends, but he couldn't ignore a direct order, and he wobbled after Burnie. 

They made their way into Burnie's office -too many fucking times he'd been here now- and Joel shut the door behind him. He fell into the chair as Burnie slowly sat down. 

"How have you been holding up?" 

"Eh. My boyfriend of two years is gone, holing up with five other men, and is obviously not coming back." Joel shrugged. "Yeah, well, I've been better." 

"You're alright with Adam though, he can watch over you after this." 

"After what?" 

"Well...there was a car accident this morning." Burnie murmured. He avoided looking into Burnie's shattered eyes and spat the new. "Ramsey's crew was in a car accident this morning, and the car exploded unfortunately. Ray was in the car." 

"…What?" Joel's voice caught and his hands were up into his hair, tugging and he was sobbing and the world was collapsing around him. His knees hit hard wood and his forehead was pressed against the floor and he was rocking back and forth, blubbering, snot dribbling down his chin. He was bashing his head into the floor -so he could just fucking feel something aside from the pain- and he felt sensed something tugging at his shoulders. He was lifted back into the chair and he noted that his eyes were dry even though his face was sticky and his head hurt. 

"Joel, can you focus on me?" Adam was in front of him with a bottle of water and a wet rag and was wiping at his face. 

"Yeah." Joel's voice was scratchy but he managed to speak. Matt's eyes were red and Burnie's cheeks were wet -they stood off to the side, huddled together but not touching- and Joel was embarrassed about his reaction. "I'm sorry." 

"Don't be sweetheart." Adam whispered. He wiped his cheeks clean and waited for Joel to stop shaking. 

"He's dead, isn't he." Joel said bitterly. 

"Yeah, he's dead." Matt replied. "He and Gavin and Michael and Ryan and Jack...."  

"And Geoff." Burnie added. 

\--- --- 

Joel went through his weeks numb, and as hard as Adam tried, Joel didn't want to move out of his apartment. He also didn't want to go back and so he was living with Adam even though he felt incredibly guilty. He didn't even want to be touched and so Adam was going through his everyday routine without touching Joel...and it killed him. 

He loved Joel. 

And if Joel loved Ray, then he guessed he would love Ray too. 

And so, he poured everything into trying to find something Geoff had left behind. Maybe a final momentum to get Joel some closure and they could move on with their life.  

He hunted for weeks and weeks, digging into anything that Ramsey had touched until he knew almost everything about the little gang. His head burnt with knowledge and he hated the feeling of being so full...he needed a break. He signed into YouTube and watched a few videos over video games, needing a laugh desperately, and found a channel called Achievement Hunter. The commentary behind the Minecraft videos had him in stitches, laughing so hard he cried and had to pause to catch up. 

He played it again once he was listening and he heard Geoff's voice crack. He stopped chuckling to listen and rewound the video to listen to the opening commentary. 

He hadn't realized it at the time because he'd been so tired and needing an out, but now he knew why the commentary was funny...why it sounded like the bickering was familiar and why he felt like he'd been a part of it. 

God damn Geoff Ramsey was alive and fucking hiding in plain sight.  

He ran up to Geoff's office and slammed the door open -Burnie, Matt and Ashley looked up, startled- and closed it behind him. 

"Geoff Ramsey is alive!" He shouted. Matt's jaw dropped open, Ashley's face screwed up into confusion, and Burnie's pen snapped in his hand. Ink dripped from between his fingers and he stood up, shoving both of them back away from him.  

"What the fuck do you mean he's alive!" Burnie screamed, his face reddening and his neck veining up.  

"I was on YouTube trying to just...clear my fuckin' mind and then I saw a video and all six of them are in it, playing fuckin' Minecraft." Adam reported. 

"ALL SIX OF THEM?" Burnie's voice was shrill. 

"Yes sir." Adam swallowed. "They go by...Achievement Hunter." 

"Baby calm down-" 

"DON'T FUCKING TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" Burnie's head snapped around to face Ashley. "THEY'VE MADE A FOOL OF ME! ACHIEVEMENT HUNTER IS THE FAKE AH CREW! IT'S SO DAMN OBVIOUS!" 

"So send them a message. You know how addicting this life is...." She muttered. "Send them a message like you would any other gang-" 

"I'm going to burn their fucking house down." Burnie steamed. Matt cleared his throat. 

"Sir, Fake AH is the gang we've been sending messages to." 

"Yeah...I know." Burnie's grin was toothy. "And I'm going to burn Ramsey's mansion down." 

\--- --- 

They had Ray. They had him in the basement and Joel was trembling. He didn't know what to say. It had been months since he'd seen the young man -the once and again love- and he was afraid of what was going to come out when he saw him. 

Burnie let him into the room and they waited behind Ray until the man stirred. His hands were stretching and he tried to sit up but he was zip tied down and nothing he did would work. Burnie went first. 

Burnie told Ray they were dead, that they'd burnt in the fire he'd set to his own house.  

Ray cried. 

It broke his heart. 

Joel had fallen   back in love with Ray but Ray had fallen out of love long ago, long before Geoff Ramsey came into the picture. It had taken him until now to realize it, to remember back to Ray being too high to answer his calls, and realizing Ray was getting himself that high to comfort his shattered heart. 

He'd left Ray and that had been it. He had stupidly held on long after his boyfriend had moved on. He felt like a fuckin' moron and he was pissed that Ray had made a fool of him. 

"Joel's here to see you." Burnie announced with a smirk. And Joel, angry and a bitter ex-lover, stepped into the light. Ray's eyes widened with fear.  

"I fucking loved you!" He took a deep breath before continuing, knowing that tears were crawling down his face. "  I mourned you when I thought you were dead."     

"You didn't mourn shit, Joel. It's been months since you've so much as touched me." Ray said harshly through his   hiccups. "You're too busy fucking Adam." The accusation behind the completely true statement stung and Joel found his next words out of frustration. 

"I just want you to know that I hate you. I despise every fucking fiber of your being and I want you to know I watched that house burn with your lovers inside of it. You're going to die down here alone, you miserable fuck." Joel shouted. He stumbled away from the light and up the stairs and back into his bottle of whiskey.

\--- ---

 

 

Joel walked down the alleyway in a daze. The kid at the end was young -really young- and looked a   stars  truck to see him. Joel felt self conscious, a little old seeing at how the kid couldn't have even graduated school yet, but proceeded towards him.  

He knew the kid was a regular of Wash  's, but the fuckhead had gotten busted recently and Ray must have burnt up the last of his stash waiting for Wash   to call. Which is probably why he looked close to withdrawal at that point, a slight tremble to his hands, beading sweat along his hairline and an anxious look in his dark eyes. He recalled the younger man's name was Ray   but Max hadn't mentioned he'd be adorable. 

Joe  l stopped in front of him, a sly smile on his lips -he couldn't help if the kid was cute- and introduced himself.  

"I'm Joel, here to replace Wash, who got busted."   The kid didn't say anything, just stared, and Joel's brow furrowed in confusion.   "Are you high?" 

"What?" Ray's   voice was tight. 

"Are you high kid?" His face grew defensive and Joel was amused. 

"No!" Ray spat. "  I'm here because I'm out of shit to get high with, old man. And I am not a kid."   Joel held his arms up and laugh  ed   at Ray's dry humor. 

"Hey, calm down." Joel said  . "I'm just here to sell. But Max told me you're in with Red."     

"Yeah but my boss is getting pissed that I smoke my own shit." Ray shrugged and held out a wad of twenties. Joel took the money.     

"You know...shouldn't you be in school?" Joel asked.   He didn't bother to count it and just shoved it in the pocket of his hoodie. He pulled out a sandw  ich   baggie of weed and flicked it while keeping his peripherals on Ray.   

"Fuck school. What the fuck am I going to do with a high school degree in this town? Fuckin' work at a gas station and eventually get my head blown off when Blue decides to heist? Na, fuck that." Ray took the baggie from him and shoved it in his backpack. "But if we don't hurry   his up I'm going to be late."     

"For someone who doesn't care about a degree, you sure seem to want to get there." Joel pointed out. Ray tensed up and Joel was almost worried he'd crossed a line.   

"If I get caught skipping again, they'll take me to my dad's shitty apartment and he'll just paint me with more bruises so I'd rather be at school." Ray admitted.   He avoided eye contact with Joel, and the older man's heart burnt with the realization that Ray was already into gang life and his father didn't give two shits if he died or not. 

"Well, there's no arguing with that logic." Joel fished around in his pocket for a business card and held it out to Ray. "Call me if you need to escape."  There was a tense moment where he was worried that he'd gone too far. Maybe Ray wasn't into him...or didn’t want to buy from him anymore. 

"Oh...." Ray reached out   and tucked   it into his pocket. "Thanks man." Ray half waved as he walked away from Joel, but he kept his eyes on the kid as he slipped out of the alley. His dark eyes stuck to Joel's mind, even as the drug dealer made his way out o  nto the sidewalk. 

\--- --- 

Joel was in the middle of a book when his phone buzzed on his table. 

'Thanks for the stuff man. It's good.'     With a smile, Joel quickly saved the number as Ray's and typed out a response. 

'No problem Ray. Skipping class?'   He waited for the answer, which came back fast. 

'Too high for math. It makes my thinking box hurt.'   Think box.... Joel was already up and grabbing his keys as he texted back. 

'I'll drive around the school and pick you up.'   He left his apartment and was in his car before Ray responded back, although much slower this time.

'Why?'     

'If you're going to skip, might as well do it where you won't get caught.'   Joel hoped the high would persuade the kid to hang out with him. Joel rather liked Ray, he liked the instant connection he'd felt and he wanted to spend a lot more time with him.  

'Alright.' 

He drove the few miles it was to the high school and was pleased when Ray stumbled his way to his car. He let himself in and was quiet as they drove off. Joel had turned his AM talk show low enough so that he couldn't understand the words, but that it provided background noise for the awkward drive. 

"So where are we going?" Ray asked him. Joel turned into his apartment complex and smiled at Ray. 

"We're going to hang at my place for a bit." Joel said.   "You were my only sell for the morning so I have a couple hours to kill." Joel parked and turned his car off. 

"Whatever man." Ray followed him out of the car and into the first floor apartment. Joel unlocked the building and ushered his high friend inside. His home was cleaner than it had been recently but not spotless. His jacket was slung across the back of his leather couch. Ray's focus was on   his television -  he had gaming systems and an entire shelf full of  X  b  ox   games on a glass bookshelf- and he saw Ray's shoulders slouch. Joel let out a soft breath he'd been holding, happy that Ray was relaxing in the open area.   

Joel walked over to his T.V. as Ray sa  t himself down on the cou  ch. He grabbed a controller and held it out to Ray. 

"Call of Duty?" J  oel asked. Ray nodded with a smile. 

\--- --- 

Joel grew to care quickly, almost too fast, and he found himself needing to be around Ray a lot more than anyone else he knew. He was eager to spend money on him, take him to movies and grab chinese take out for a night of video games and drugs. Ray didn't seem to mind as long as it wasn't expensive -whatever they were doing- and always jumped on the chance to stay with Joel. 

Joel knew the situation with Ray's father was rocky. The older man was a drunk -a contributing factor to why Ray didn't touch alcohol- and a beater. He didn't care much if Ray was gone for days at a time or if the kid came home smelling like weed and sex, just cared if Ray was wasting space and time in his home. On Ray's eighteenth birthday, Joel got a phone call. 

"Hey man." The crack head in front of him grew angry as Joel answered the familiar number. He shoved the bag of coke into the man's filthy hands and snatched the wad of hundreds as he walked away to answer the phone. 

"What's up Ray?" Joel's voice was quiet and he ignored the cries of ecstasy from behind   him. He focused instead on the shallow breaths and gasps from the other line. It sounded as if Ray was crying. "Ray,   talk to me."     

"Please...I have nowh  ere else to go. I can't go home anymore, and I can't go to the hospital." Ray whimpered. Joel was moving before he knew it.   

"Where are you?" Joel asked, runni  ng from the alley. He looked for his car -oh, where the fuck did he park it now- and Ray cried softly on the other side.     

"I don't know, outside my apartment? In the alley right next to the complex."     

"Don't move Ray, I'm on my way to get you." Joel told him as he found his car and slid into the driver's seat. He hung the phone up and sped towards the south side of Los Santos as fast as he could.   He ran a few lights but made it to the shabby complex in record time. 

Ray was bruised to shit  . That much was clear to Joel as he pulled up and Ray got into the car. He held his ribs with a shaking arm and nursed his swollen face delicately. Joel didn't ask any questions   but his mind burnt with them as he drove to his own apartment and helped Ray into his house. He noticed Ray's backpack was full of clothing instead of the usual school stuff when he carried it from his car   and he set it gently on the dining room table on his way into his bathroom. He sat Ray on the edge of the tub and pulled out a small first aid kit.     

"What happened?" Joel finally asked. Ray was crying still but not sobbing and that worried Joel. 

"My dad found out I was running with Red and beat the hell out of me. Said since I was eighteen I could take care of myself now and all but kicked me out. I can't go back." Ray said softly. Joel dabbed at the split lip carefully and thought over his options. He knew though that he had made his mind up long ago.   

"You can stay with me." He offered. Ray stiffened and shook his head, embarrassed, and Joel knew it was partly because they had already shared miniscule feelings between the sheets. 

"I'm not looking for charity man. I just need a place to crash for now. I'd stay with Michael, but he'd Blue and I'd be fucked if the boss caught me with him."   Ray's voice was small. 

"No, stay with me. I'm asking you." Joel caught his broken gaze and smiled weakly. "Please Ray."     

"Why?" Ray asked again with only a slight break to his voice.     

"I care about you...I mean...I care in a very personal way." Joel admitted. "I want you to be with me...here."     

"Really?" Joel wondered how it was so hard for the kid to believe in this love and he figured it was because of his upbringing. 

"Yes Ray, you're perfect." Joel whispered, leaning in and capturing Ray's mouth with his own. Joel's lips were hot but Ray's were still swollen and chapped and yet, the kiss was better than any he'd had before. Joel's hands were empty all of a sudden and his fingers were   worming across Ray's ribs, pushing to see if they're broken or just bruised, and feeling excited when it's the latter. He picked Ray up and rushed him into the bedroom. Joel set Ray on the bed gently and pulled the younger man's shirt off, trying to not look at the array of black and yellow and purple that covers the his dark skin.     

Ray pulled Joel back to his mouth and Joel couldn't help but climb on top of him and grind down harshly. It was different   this time though, and it held more promise. Even though Ray hadn't admitted it, Joel had a hunch that Ray was a virgin. They'd done nothing more than fooling around in drugged hazes but Joel didn't want to push Ray into something he didn't want or wasn't ready for. 

Ray   rocked his hips upward when Joel stopped grinding and Joel moaned into his mouth. Ray's fingers danced around Joel's zipper and Joel paused again. 

"Ray-"     

"No shut up, we're doing this." Ray reassured him strongly. Joel gave a slow nod and took Ray's lips in his own again. The youngers fingers pushed the zipper down and Joel sat up to strip down to his boxers. Ray let Joel slide his jeans off -bruises were everywhere and Joel tried to keep the bias from his gaze- and Joel climbed back on top of Ray. 

He was careful to lower his entire weight but was eager to feel Ray's skin against his own. He loved the younger man -even if he was old enough to be his father- and he knew in that one moment, when his stomach brushed against Ray's abs, he knew that the search was over. Ray was it, the one, who he'd been waiting for without even realizing it.  

And with the was Ray was moaning under the kisses, Ray knew it too. 

\--- --- 

 

Every breath Joel took in stung his throat. It was as if he was under water, unable to catch a solid breath except in a stuttering gasp, and his heart hammered against his rib cage   with a painful thump, thump, thump.... It only served to remind him that he was still alive in all his misery, that he could not possibly die of a broken heart, and that while he hurt, his love was still out there.  

The knife in his hand was cold despite his warm grip, and he toyed with it, his sad attempt to hurt himself in vain because he knew he couldn't actually go through with it.  

He set the blade down on his kitchen table and looked around his apartment, his drunken haze preventing him from really remembering things that happened here. All that came to his head when he looked over on the couch was late evening sex, and when his gaze fell to the bar, he could remember Ray's soft lips on his shoulders as he cooked them breakfast, and even when he would come home from a deal really late and Ray had stayed up -even on a school night- to make sure he got home safely.  

Tears sprung to his eyes and he snapped them shut as fast as he could. His free hand curled around the warm whiskey with the intent to bring the glass to his lips, but he suddenly felt so weak, too fragile to lift to his unworthy, soiled lips and he shoved the glass to the ground where it shattered. The tingling sound it made echoed in his head and the alcohol would soak into the wood but he couldn't give two shits and stood, stumbling to the bathroom. He felt the sting of vomit coming up his throat but his feet wouldn't comprehend that he needed to move now, right now, and then he was leaning forward against the wall and retching  into  the trash can. 

His empty stomach clenched painfully as what little food he had was forced from it, along with the alcohol, and his knees knocked against one another when his body stopped trembling. 

There was a soft knock at the door and he swiped at his mouth. The feeling on his tongue was acidic and he grunted as he spat once more into the waste basket before turning to the door. It opened slowly and Adam stepped in the apartment. His hair and beard were damp as was his jacket, and his cheeks were red with the cold. Winter was approaching fast and Joel and Adam were taking turns at each other's apartments even though Joel would prefer Adam to be far away. 

Joel didn’t understand where the pain was coming from. Only a few months ago he'd turned away from precious Ray to be with Adam, leaving him every way except actually telling his young boyfriend that he was leaving, and he was okay with it. He was ready to leave Ray and to be with Adam, to move out of his apartment -he'd give it to Ray- and to move in with Adam when Ray had left with Ramsey's crew. 

And he realized then that this thing with Adam was merely a fling. He'd loved Ray so much it was a physical pain in his side constantly now, a solid ache that never left and he knew Adam saw. 

He hadn't so much as wanted to touch Adam lately, or be near him, but his boyfriend had a determinated view on their relationship. Adam believed that if he killed Ray, or at least captured him, he'd move on from the residual affection he had for his ex and that the two of them could finally be happy.  

Joel knew deep down inside him that he was wrong. Joel needed Ray like he needed blood in his veins. He needed the younger man desperately and he never expected Adam to understand, especially when they found him again and Joel kicked Adam to the curb like yesterday's trash. 

All Joel needed to do was build an empire to oppose Ramsey's, wicked and strong enough to not only brush by Ramsey's defences, but to take them down as well.  

He and Adam had successfully escaped from Ramsey's onslaught of Rooster Teeth, probably the only two that had survived with that gang association in all of Los Santos, and there was nowhere for them to go. Any other gang around the area had ties to Fake AH and they wouldn't take in anyone who was going against the crew. Joel wanted so desperately to be in Los Santos, mostly because Ray was still here, but he knew that his fate was in another city, recruiting as far away from L.S. as possible.  

He turned to Adam, who had crossed the room and was holding a cool, damp hand to his forehead. 

"Pack your bags, we're moving."


	10. Chapter 10

Geoff wakes up in the morning to Jack's scruffy face pressed into his neck. He already knows his boys are up and about, either showering or in the midst of breakfast making, and he deta ches  himself from Jack. The man makes no movement to show that he's been woken up and Geoff is able to slip out of the room quietly.

He is correct in assuming that there is both breakfast in the works and that someone is in the shower when he smells bacon and hears the water running from the guest bathroom. He strolls down the hallway towards the scent of breakfast and is greeted by Ray, who has leapt up from his seat and has thrown himself into Geoff's arms.

"Good morning, buddy." Geoff chuckles good-humoredly as he rubs Ray's back. Gavin is next , still warm from morning cuddles,  and then  Michael , who  gives him a half assed wave with a greasy spatula from the stove and Geoff smirks at him. He joins Ray at the bar stools  a s Ryan walks in, hair damp and smelling like Axe body wash as he presses soft lips to Geoff's own chapped ones. He can still taste the morning breath between Ryan's minty tongue, making his nose crinkle up. Ray is pushing coffee mugs to both of them, and they both thank the youngest man warmly. 

"So what's the plan for today boss?" Gavin asks. 

"Fuckin' chillin' like a villain." Michael says over the popping bacon. Ray scoffs.

"Shut the fuck up Michael." Geoff says. Michael flips him off but is smiling and Geoff continues on. "I was thinking we could try a Let's Play."

"Interesting." Ryan muses thoughtfully. "I was thinking a Let's Heist."

"Heist, huh?" Geoff looks over to Ryan. "What's the plan?"

"I'm off my murder break." Ryan exclaims darkly, tilting his head forward and dropping his voice. The kitchen is quiet for a moment until Jack, who must have wandered in just after Ryan's announcement, yawns loudly and rubs at his eyes.

"Why's it so quiet?" 

"Ryan's being a creeper." Gavin says with a shrug. 

"He wants to go out on a heist." Geoff says stiffly. Jack tenses up to and shoots a glance at Ray.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Jack states. "We never do heists anymore. We have people to do that for us."

"Yeah, but there's a rumor going around that we've gotten soft." Ryan points out. Jack has crossed the room to press himself to Geoff's back while Michael is finishing up. Ray and Gavin sit on the island counter together, eyes downcast and hands clasped together tightly.

"You know that's shit-" Geoff starts out but is cut off by Michael's tight voice.

"No, he's absolutely right. Fuckin' kid came into my office the other day...he didn't even knock, just by the way, strolled right the fuck in like he owned the place...and requested a sniper rifle for that last heist at that corner store and made a comment along the lines of 'Bet you guys haven't ever been on a real heist.' I almost had to kill him right there." Michael turns around with a tray covered in breakfast sandw iches -bacon, egg, cheese and toast, oh God- with a bitter scowl across his face. "Oh, yeah, there's a hole in my office wall, just by the way."

"Did he really?" Geoff growls. "Well, it has been a while since we've public ly ...humiliated an employee. Looks like we'll have to cut back again."

"In the meantime we should squash these rumors down while they're still contained to just these little fledglings." Ryan says. Geoff nods while Jack shakes his head.

"It's been a long time since anyone but Gavin has dealt with anything on the streets." Jack points out. Gavin chuckles.

"The lesser gangs still fear us." Gavin tells them. "We've got the advantage because nobody would dare cross out path."

"I'll bring the bombs." Michael grins.

"I'll bring my crown." Ryan adds. The six of them laugh together until Ray speaks up.

"I'll snipe."

"No you won't." Jack says quickly. Ray's face falls and he sets his jaw, preparing to argue, when Ryan cuts in.

"Yes, he will. He and Gavin will be together up on a roof completely out of sight."

"Only as long as he's safe." Jack mutters.

"Guys, I'm not a god damned baby. You  don't have to watch over me." Ray starts up. 

"We know that." Geoff says quietly. But it's too late to take it back and Ray pushes himself away from Gavin and off the counter.

"No, you clearly don't. You guys barely let me out of your sight these days. Always pestering me when I try to take out a recruit for some hands on training. Stepping on my toes whenever I do get out and away." Ray grabs a breakfast sandwich and scoffs as he leaves the room. The five are quiet, shooting glances between each other and to the door.

" Should we go after him?" Ryan asks. Michael shakes his head.

"After all that? No way."

"He's right though." Gavin says slowly. "We do treat him pretty pitifully."

"We do not." Geoff defends. 

"Oh, I dunno about that." Gavin's voice is rising now as his face takes on a pink flush. "He's right, isn't he? Never letting him out of our sights."

"You can hardly blame us,  Gav . After what Burnie did...." Jack's deep voice soothed Gavin's anger.

"Yeah, but it's been so long since then." Gavin says patiently. "People fear us now. Nobody would dare cross  our paths. Think about it, how long I've been on the streets leading the drug ring. Nobody has hurt me or threatened me. He isn't a weakling."

Gavin walks out of the room with a sandwich in his hand after Ray and the other four stand there, sandwiches getting cold as they exchange glances. Michael scoffs, shoving half the sandwich in his mouth and stomping off after his L ads, leaving the Gents sighing with frustration.

"Looks like we're pulling a fuckin' heist." Geoff gruffly mutters between bites of the chilling egg and hardening cheese.


	11. Chapter 11

"I don't understand why they can't just forget it!" Ray grumbles to himself between deep breaths of a freshly rolled joint. The knocking at the door is easy to ignore between the furious beating of his heart in his ears  but even if he doesn't answer, Gavin doesn't respect closed doors. The Brit jiggles the handle just right, and the door pops open easily, and Gavin lets himself in. 

"Ray...." Gavin notices the cloudy room, the tears staining Ray's cheeks, and his trembling fingers.

"Just go, Gavin." Ray begs. "Please, just go."

Michael storms into the room after, his sandwich already half eaten, fury crossing his face. "God the nerve of the Gents sometimes pisses me off." Michael slams the door behind him knowing damn well it would echo through the first floor and takes another angry bite of his breakfast.

"Guys, please." Ray whispers as he lets another drag out, the smoke burning his throat as he curbs another sob into non- existence .

"They're wrong to not let you go with us." Gavin says. Ray turns away from the two and back to the dresser where weed and wrapping paper is splayed across the top to slam his fist down. The mirror resting against the wall is cracked and Michael vaguely notices the blood sticking to Ray's right hand, staining the joint dark red. Gavin seems to notice at the same time and takes a few steps forward to touch Ray's arm. 

"Ray, they'll let you heist with us. You know it. They couldn't let you out of their sighs long enough to perform a  proper heist." Gavin tells him. Ray shakes his head slowly.

"That's not the point!" Ray screams. Gavin pulls his hand away and takes a full step back. "That isn't the point at all!"

"Ray, calm down." Michael's strong voice can usually reach out to Ray, but the younger man isn't having it. He spins around, tears stick on his cheeks, the joint forgotten on the dresser but blood still draining down his fingers.

"The five of you will never let me be!" Ray's voice is thick. "I just need to get away, and then you'll realize that I can be on my own!"

"You can't leave Ray." Gavin murmurs from beside his boyfriend. Ray's fist comes back around before either man knows what to do and Gavin falls right back, his head connecting with the edge of the dresser. It renders him unconscious. Ray comes back around but Michael is ready, throwing a disbelieving hand up to block the punch. 

"Ray!" Michael shouts half hoping the Gents can hear them. He turns his head slightly as Gavin makes a loud moan and Ray is able to catch his jaw with a hard punch, sending Michael flat on his back. He looks up at Ray, holding his chest as his breath is ripped from his lungs, and Ray sends down a pity glance.

"When you wake up, let the Gents know to not look for me. I'll be back and that I love you all."

"Please...." Michael felt the tears before he knew he was crying.

"I'll be back." Ray urges, hiccuping while rearing his foot back. The kick is swift and Michael passes out. Ray looks around carefully -he knows he hasn't dealt out a lot of damage to his boyfriends- and grabs a spare baggie of weed from the dresser, stuffing it in his pocket. He heads to the door but hears footsteps and low voices and, in his daze, runs to the window instead and throws it open.

"Ray?" It's Ryan's voice but Ray is already out the window and into the early afternoon sun. He sneaks along the side of the house and leaps onto his green Daemon motorcycle. The keys are already in the ignition -he never sees the need in taking them out anymore- and he starts it up and speeds out of the gate.

\--- ---

"Sir, we've just witnessed Narvaez moving by himself." The dark skinned man is holding an iPad up to Joel, showing him pictures of Ray speeding away on a motorcycle, his knuckles bloody and his face flushed and shining. He'd obviously had a fight with his significant others seeing as how he was away from the five of them and alone.

"Perfect. Intercept him and bring him here." Joel commands from his desk. The dark skinned man dials a number on his phone and brings it up to his ear.

"Take him and I'll meet you halfway, but make sure there isn't too much damage." He pauses. "Yes." He hangs the phone up and locks the iPad, standing in front of Joel. "Brian is on his way sir."

"Perfect." Joel says again. "Let's not fuck this up Thomas. We're going to have the Fake AH Crew all over our asses when Geoff realizes that I'm still alive and carrying on Rooster Teeth."

"We aren't even in the same city  sir ." Thomas says offhandedly. "By the time we've been found, we'd have moved, right?"

"It's time for some truth Thomas." Joel stands and leans towards his young employee. "Mine and Adam's plan this entire time has been to capture Ray and take Los Santos from Ramsey's cold, dead fingers."

"That's...quite a goal." Thomas is shocked at the news.

"If I'd have told all of you that when I was recruiting and taking in other gangs that the end game was Ramsey and Los Santos, none of you would have signed up." Joel shrugs, walking out from behind his desk and slinging a jacket around his shoulders. "Now, where's Adam?"

"I believe he's at your home sir, last I heard."

"Which was when?"

"About an hour ago?"

"I'll call him then. He gets restless when I'm not home on time." Joel zips the front of it after he tucks his arms in the sleeves. 

"Does he know, sir?" Thomas asks the question. Joel turns back around and gazes at his assistant. Thomas' dark eyes are cautious, begging Joel to either answer or forget the question, obviously concerned. He'd been with Joel since the beginning, always doing whatever Joel wanted without hesitation, always taking in all the shit about Ray and Adam and whatever else Joel vented about....

"Yes, he does." Joel says quietly. "He's known this entire time. But I'm thinking if Ramsey can do it...so can we." Joel's eyes make contact with Thomas', imploring the younger to understand.

"You can do anything Joel." Thomas' voice is admirable. "I've seen it myself. You can do anything."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many short chapters because I have literally no time in life! I work like 10 days in a row, plus gym time, plus guard things.... I have no time. I am sorry guys, I'm trying....  
> I'll balance it all out eventually.


	12. Chapter 12

 

Joel has been sitting on pins and needles since Thomas called him an hour prior informing him of Ray's capture. He knew that his young love would have a nasty bruise on his jaw and probably some strained -if not broken- ribs from the encounter, but no worse for wear than his last time captured. He got up to pace  in front of his window again, staring down in the road for his black car to pull up on the sidewalk, back to his desk where he stood and pushed aside paperwork, before heading back to the window.

It was a circle, a constant loop, much like his life has been lately.

From uprooting his and Adam's lives in Los Santos, from introducing a polyamory point of view into Adam's head...from restarting Rooster Teeth from fucking scratch and building it back to it's former glory...Joel Heyman has been busy.

His eyes stung from the lack of sleep and his muscles twinged with very anxious step he took, but he'd been able to ignore those side  effects  of leading a gang for months now. He hadn't realized how hard it would truly be...or how easily he'd fall into the routine.

He was well suited into the mob leader lifestyle, able to make decisions with clear and concise thoughts -even decisions that included Ray-, even if they were harsh or 'hard'.

"Calm down." Adam tells him from the couch. The bearded man is slung across the entirety of it, a PlayStation controller in hand and a game on the screen, and he turns to face Joel. "You need to relax for a minute or when he gets here you'll end up killing him."

"I'd never kill him." Joel defends. Adam chuckles.

"Sure, and you won't remember at all that he left you for five other men."

"Only after I left him for you."

"I honestly don't think he'd be into the three of us together. He seems to like a...wider variety of men."

"Shut up Adam before I send you home." Joel snaps, pushing aside the papers again and sitting in his large chair.

"You wouldn't." Adam teases, killing yet another opponent on the television, before pausing the game. "Besides, you really still think he's going to want you after you've once again kidnapped him?"

"Seriously man?" Joel growls out as his phone vibrates on the table. He flicks Adam off before picking the phone up and answering it with a clipped 'Heyman'.

"We're pulling up outside now boss." Thomas says hurriedly. "We've had to use  chloroform  to keep him down. He's a fighter."

"Damn right he is." Joel agreed. "That's fine. Just bring him up."

\--- ---

Ray was sitting on a ledge of the mountain, looking down on Los Santos, nothing but trees to his back and the entire city to his front. He used to come here to think in school, way before he'd gotten into drugs and Joel and gangs, and it was nice to be back. It was his thinking spot, his one place to be away from the chaos that was his life, and he was actually enjoying the alone time.

As long as he didn't think about Geoff...or Ryan...or Jack or the other Lads that he'd left behind. 

He missed them desperately, a burning in his chest right inside his heart that made every breath a burning rod in his throat. His eyes burnt from the smoke that drifted from his joint and from the amount of tears he'd already cried. He was trying not to remember Burnie, but the kidnapping was always just in the back of his mind...always keeping him from really sleeping well if one of his lovers were missing. He was starting to realize exactly how crazy it was to be in Los Santos alone, and he knew he'd have to give the biggest apology for them to forgive him.

Ray felt the rag over his face before he really knew what was happening, but as the first tiny breath of the sweet tang before throwing his head back into the forehead behind him. The person's hand dropped away and he jumped to his  feet  and  tried to run, but the small breath in was already screwing with him (not to mention he was still slightly high). 

His bike wasn't too far away but he somehow felt that he wouldn't make it, and he was afraid of what his loves would think. Would they hate him? He should try to get at least a text out to them so they know he was attacked. But first, he'd have to find a safe place....

The man darted out from behind a tree and the dark skinned man's arms were around his neck before he could really react. The man who he must have headbutted approached them quickly with a white rag and punched Ray straight in his jaw. His tongue was caught between his teeth and his mouth filled with blood as the rag was shoved back across his mouth again. The world turned fuzzy and his eyes blurred with his last thoughts....

'I wonder if they'll come for me again?'

\--- ---

Ray wakes up in his bed, the sheets pulled up to his bare chest, with a pounding headache and a dry mouth. He smacks his lips and sits up slowly, holding a shaking hand to his forehead, thanking whatever God might be out there that it was all just a nightmare. If the Gents didn't even want him to heist, he'd never heist again.

The sheets were too rough against his legs and his eyes shoot open. The room is dark red, a passionate color that is very much the opposite color of his soft brown  bedroom at Geoff's home. The sheets are white and cheap, much like the thin pillows and the chunky comforter on the bed with him. Next to the bed are two dark wood end tables, one  with a lamp, his cell phone, a glass of water and two ibuprofen and the other with a digital clock. It had been hours since he'd left that morning and he couldn't help but wonder if his boys missed him yet. 

He took the medicine and drank the water before standing up -why the fuck was he only wearing his black boxers?- and investigating the room. The dresser contained clothes his size -he pulled on a pair of gray bermudas and a black tee- and the only door that wasn't locked had a small bathroom that was well stocked with everything he needed. The doorway that he assumed led out was locked -of fucking corse- and so he laid back down in the bed with his phone. He had all his games but the number must have been turned off while he was asleep because he couldn't send texts or make phone calls. 

Fruit ninja was a well enough di straction until the door opened and Joel walked in. The phone dropped out of his hands and into his lap as Joel smiled.

"Hello there Ray."

"Oh god Joel." Ray's voice crack  as his eyes flood  with tears. He blinks them away violently as Joel crosses to sit on the foot of the bed. Ray flinches away, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around his knees while Joel lays his legs across the side of the bed.

"So, we've got to talk about the last time we met." Joel starts off casually. "I feel like we've got off on the wrong  foot."

"You mean after you kidnapped me and tortured me for a month?" Ray recalls bitterly. "After you said you hated me and I'd die in that basement, miserable and alone?"

"See now? That's the wrong attitude to have, especially when I'm holding you here as my prisoner." Joel points out. "We both know I couldn't ever hate you."

"You had me convinced." Ray mumbles.

"Well, I don't." Joel says softly. "I love you still. You know that. You can feel it. This entire time, the door has been opened." Ray's eyes drift to the hallway. "And you haven't even made a move to escape."

"That doesn't mean anything." Ray mumbles.

"You're more than welcome to stay until the others appreciate you." Joel tells him while standing up. "I know they don't appreciate you."

"What?"

"I've been watching you. And they don't even appreciate any thing you do."

"...I...didn't realize.... You've been watching me?"

"I'd appreciate you." Joel says as he walks towards the door. Ray watches him walk out but doesn't move from his curled up position on the bed. He waits but Joel doesn't shut the door.


	13. Chapter 13

Ray doesn't leave at first, mostly afraid because what if it's a trap, but eventually, curio sity  wins out. He slowly walks out of his room and into the beige hallway, cautious and aware, while sticking to mostly sliding down the wall. The walls are bare of any decoration, making the place look like a model home, while the furniture is in pristine condition.

Ray remembers that Joel's apartment was like that before he moved in, everything hardly touched and still spotless aside from that leather couch, most likely due to Joel's neat freak personality. He can see little signs of life though when he enters the living room. Half a glass of water  on the coffee table, an open package of M&M's leaning on an X-Box controller. The television is on and a Halo game is paused on the menu. The couch is brown leather and the pillow is creased with recent vacancy. Ray blinks at the casual living room set until a clatter from the kitchen has him jumping back into the hallway.

"Oh! You scared me Ray." Joel chuckles from the kitchen archway. Ray's skin tingles and his entire body tenses as he takes in Joel's casual appearance. The slacks are gone, replaced with jeans and he wears a loose tee and white socks. In one hand is a glass pitcher with orange juice  and in his other hand, a glass with what looks like water. 

"Hey." Ray snaps. "What the fuck is going on."

"I told you that you could stay until they appreciated you." Joel reminds him. He doesn't move, neither does Ray, but pour s the orange juic e anyway. 

"They appreciate me!" Ray defends them while sliding into the room casually. Joel smiles as he notices this and turns back into the kitchen.

"They heisted without you." Joel says. Ray can feel the chills down his spine.

"No. They wouldn't." Ray's tone is breaking Joel's heart but he continues on.

"It's all over the news. The AH Crew's first failed heist. The first official spotting of Geoff Ramsey and his team. Your relationship is still safely out of the headlines but it won't be long before that is cleared up too." 

"I can play this game too Joel. The helpless victim." Ray's eyes water  at the thought of them going on without him. He is weak for his five lovers. "How the hell weren't you killed?"

"I moved on from Achievement City. I have my own gang now. I lead them and this city. I'm powerful." Joel shrugs and comes out of the kitchen. "I don't even need you. I have Adam."

As if on cue, Adam comes through the front door.

"Oh, good thing you're awake." Adam says gruffily. He walks over to the television and grabs up the remote, changing the channel. "Your boys are on."

The news flashes to the screen and a blonde woman is grimly talking on the screen.

"-and while the robbery  was not completed, several police officers have been gunned down or are injured thanks to the Fake AH Crew. Geoff Ramsey, CEO of Achievement Hunter, a YouTube channel and business playing video games, has led the Fake AH Crew and five other men away from the scene but police are in hot pursuit of the crew. The other five men are believed to be his immediate co-workers, Jack Pattillo, Ryan Haywood, Michael Jones and Gavin Free. Ray Na rvaez Jr. is an employee as well, but seems to be missing from the heist. This is all the information we've got for now, but I will be back as soon as more is available." The woman flashes a large smile. "This is Summer Haven, signing off."

"Well, looks like they need you." Joel shrugs. Ray makes no motion to move out the door because once again, he feels as though it's a trap.

"Can I go?" Ray finally asks in a bored voice. "You said I could leave."

"I never said that." Joel says. "I said you can stay if you feel unappreciated. I never said anything about letting you go." Joel smiles as Adam locks the front door. Ray swallows nervously. "I only just got you back and I can't let you go again."

"Joel, I don't belong with you." Ray slowly says. But Adam is crossing the room and is kissing Joel hard on the mouth. It's obvious that he is no longer listening.

"I get both of you. I'm lucky." Joel whispers after Adam pulls away.

"Wait, what?" Ray backs up back into the hallway. "There's no way Joel."

"No way what?" Joel asks innocently.

"No fucking way. I'm already in a committed relationship."

"Men who have left you alone for days now?"

"Yeah-wait...it hasn't been days." Ray's distracted now.

"Two days, actually."

"And they...haven't...come for me?" Ray's voice is small. He slips further into the hallway.

"Because they never cared about you." Adam says softly. Ray shakes his head before running back to his room. Last time, it was a month before they rescued him. They waited for the opportune moment but they still saved him in the end. They did care about him. They had to.

He'd just wait a month until they returned.

\--- ---

It is  much longer than a month before he hears  from his crew. It is  on the news, reporting another failed heist with only five men, Ray Nar vaez Jr. still missing from the crew.

They don't come for him.

And Ray waits, eats, sleeps, in Joel's apartments. He never leaves, even though  the doors are wide open and unlocked...even though Joel gives him keys to a motorcycle and a sniper rifle . He can't bear the thought of being gone if the crew comes for him and he's gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, more than halfway done with this fic! :) Chapters become shorter but the story progresses on. Can anyone see where it's going?


	14. Chapter 14

Ray didn't know when he became less afraid of Joel. He no longer slunk along the wall, creep ing around with ears wide open. Adam's presence no longer sent shivers down his spine, Joel's casual hand on his shoulder or lower back gave him a disgusting tumble in his stomach.

It was like a vacation with old friends, except that old friends wanted much more than friendship.

Joel is gone when he wakes up in the morning. Not that he sleeps in the same bed, or in the same room, but when he leaves his bedroom, the living room is devoid of all life. The only proof that they hadn't abandoned him in the night is the slightly warm plate of pancakes that sits on the counter.

He smiles and digs right in, starving for some reason, and thinks. He does this a long recently, thinking. 

He thinks of the way Adam has changed from his memories. How he hated Adam for taking Joel from him. How he's funny, has a kick-ass russian accent when he wants to. He's decent at video games and better at cooking than Joel is.

And Joel has n't changed all that much. Still possessive over what he considers  his, still sly and cleverly playful. Dropping hints of what he expects of Ray that no longer stung.

The both of them have entertained the thoughts of polyamory, that much i s obvious. Ray kno ws they wouldn't come right out and tell him but if the subtle touches did anything, it reminded Ray of his boys when they took their fucking to more than casual.

And his boys are another thought on his mind at all times. They were supposed to come rescue him, save him, and they hadn't done more than lift a finger for failed heists in his direction. The fact they have n't attempted to contact him or anything breaks  his heart.

The pancakes no longer taste the same and they're thick on his tongue. He opens his mouth and lets the chewed food fall back onto the sticky plate and he pushes it across the counter. It squeaks, glass on granite squeals, and he jumps from the stool. A shower is all he needs, really, that and maybe a joint.

He gets to his bathroom and shuts and locks the door, running a hand through his hair while he turns the water on. The sound of it has him remembering Joel's most recent attempt at seduction....

*

Joel's hands caressed away at Ray's neck, pulling at Ray's hair like he used to when he was horny. A clear call sign that had Ray's stomach fluttering. Adam is watching from across the room, a glass of crowne and coke to his lips, eyes dark with passion. Joel's sitting next to Ray, the controller long forgotten on the cushions between them, when he leans over and tilts Ray's face towards his. Ray didn't stop him when their lips met -Joel's are hot and slick with alcohol- nor when their tongues battle for dominance. Joel's hands traveled up his thigh, right to his hardening crotch, and Ray leapt up. He stuttered, blushing hottly and wiping at his mouth, that he was tired, and he slipped away to his bedroom. He couldn't stop the hard-on and jumped in the shower, cold water running down his back, as he fumbled to orgasm.

He thought of his boys though, the entire time.

*

When he turns to look at himself at the mirror, there's a note taped to the glass.

"The fuck?" He mutters aloud, ripping the folded page and opening it.

***

Ray,

I can't tell you who I am. Just trust me. You're being lied to and manipulated by the bosses. Joel and Adam are forcing you to love them again, to love them and forget your old crew. Rooster Teeth is making a comeback and they're planning to poach the Fake AH Crew right out of Los Santos. 

You have to get out.

When the clock strikes ten, the front door will be unlocked. You must leave. Your motorcycle will be running in the parking garage. You must escape.

Your crew has been looking for you this entire time, letting the runner crew plan heists so that they could put everything into looking for you.

Make the right decision.

***

The note isn't signed, but it sends shivers down his spine. 

'How do I know it's true ?'  The thought has tears coming to his eyes. A few weeks ago he'd been jumping on the chance to leave, but now, he i s seco nd  guessing it.

Why the fuck i s he second guessing this?

He tosses  the note in the toilet and flushes it, watching the paper disintegrate as it swirls around the bowl. The shower still runs as he stands there, steam leaking out from over the shower curtain and around him. The room grows hot, too hot, and sweat pools in various areas, his upper lip, his forehead. He lets the water run as he slips out of the bathroom.

Hands shaking, he packs some clothes in a backpack that was in his closet, his unusable cell phone, and some weed, and heads to the living area. It is exactly as he left it, half eaten pancakes on the counter, living room still spotless, and he takes a shaking breath.

There's no way that leaving can be this hard.

The clock is ticking, racing towards ten, and he just fucking stands there in front of the door. He just waits.

Waits.

Waits.

Ten hits, and he reaches a shaking hand towards the door knob. He wants to leave, he's desperate to get back to his boys, but he wants to stay.

And there it is.

He wants to stay.

Because he still has his connection with Joel, still loves Joel and he thinks he always will. Adam has grown on him recently, the banter and easy going attitude complementing Joel perfectly.

It's crazy, crazy that ten minutes have passed with him debating about where he wants to go.

He loves them all, loves them all and he doesn't know what to do, what should he fucking do?

He grasps at the door handle because his boys had him at his lowest point, always taking care of him and loving him when he didn't deserve it.

He needed his boys and they needed him much more than Joel and Adam ever would.

Ray is down the staircase into the parking garage before he can even properly take a breath. The bike is running, like the note said it would, and he leaps on it and drives out into the unknown city. He has to be careful. He doesn't know who is bought in the city or who has seen his face and knows he should be locked away in his tower. He just has to find a way back to Los Santos.


	15. Chapter 15

The five Achievement Hunters left in Los Santos grow frantic as Ray doesn't text or call. One hour turns into the afternoon, which turns into an entire fucking day of waiting before Geoff get's a phone call.  They are all sitting around with the television playing as background noise while the five stare at the cell. Geoff finally leans forward and grabs it.

"Ray?" Geoff's distressed tone is like a call sign and all his boys (aside from Ray, of course) flock to him , standing off the couch to move closer.

"Nope, not Ray. I'm your motherfucking nightmare, Ramsey." Joel's voice mocks and Geoff feels his heart harden into what he is down to the core.

"Where is he, you fuck?" Geoff asks calmly, trying not to let the panic seep through his tone as four sets of eyes stare disbelieving up at him. Gavin has fallen to the couch and Micahel's swiping tears from his freckled face but Geoff must carry on.

"I'm not going to give him back, and I'm very far away." Joel is calculating the way Geoff is answering and giving appropriate responses-just enough to piss the crew boss off. "He's going to want to stay."

"We're going to come for him Heyman." Geoff growls. Everyone in the room can hear Joel laughing over the phone.

"Next time Ray cums, it'll be to the thought of me, not you." The phone cuts off and Geoff chucks it against the wall. When it shatters, he still doesn't feel any better. So he screams as loud as he can until his throat is begging for him to stop, and his eyes burn. He stops after a minute and the eyes are trained on him again.

"Joel has him, and he's going to try and fucking give him like, Stockholm Sy nd rome or some shit."  Geoff's eyes are wet. "I don't even know where he is or where he could be?"

As he says it, a news bulletin flashes brightly across the screen.

'Fake Ah Crew Identities Are Known YouTubers'

"Oh fuck." Michael groans.

\--- ---

After that, the remaining crew members quickly gather clothes and weapons and paperwork before abandoning their home. Los Santos wasn't safe anymore...it hadn't ever really been safe, especially with their identities out in the open. As Jack drove them to a safe house on the edge of town, Geoff and Gavin made call after call to try and cushion some of the blow.

"Well, we just hit a million subscribers." Michael says as his phone shows the notification. "Now to celebrate. Oh, wait, we've got to find Ray first." Michael's jaw was still red from Ray's attack, but he's no longer angry, just concerned. Gavin's forehead already sports a whelp with a bright red bruise that he keeps touching. It twinges painfully as he reassures Kdin that they are all safe and together, all six of them.

"Good idea Gav." Geoff mumbled as he heard the conversation. "Let them think we are all together still."

"We should bomb a heist." Ryan throws the idea out there. "If Joel is trying to make Ray love him, or even trust him again, he's going to have to give him some freedoms ."

"A failed heist from the newly outed Fake AH Crew would definitely make the news." Jack adds. "If Ray sees it, he could see that we need him to do things." Gavin hangs the phone up and rubs his eyes.

"We've got to harden up again." Michael says. "It's been too long since we've dealt with the common folk."

"I hate being that cruel." Gavin admits. "I fall too easily into the roll and forget myself."

"Maybe we need to fucking forget ourselves a little bit." Geoff mumbled. "It's time to lose our minds, boys."

\--- ---

The heist fails –to plan- and they allow the cameras to catch footage of them. They can only hope Ray gets the message. But weeks go on without any kind of contact from him or Joel.

They bomb another heist, partly because the anticipation is tearing their relationship apart, but mostly because they're desperate. They fall too well into their heartless roles, cruel and frigid, losing themselves to their former nature. They turn the crew unofficially –unannounced- over to Kdin and Lindsay so they can throw themselves into finding Ray.

It almost seems like the youngest member doesn't want to be found after a few months.

"He could have stolen their phones by now, a car or something...." Michael shouts, driving a knife into the corner of their map. "He could have done anything by now!"

"Unless Joel has him really locked down. Censoring what he's watching and viewing with parental controls." Ryan sadly suggests. Michael's dark eyes flash to Ryan's and the two share a crazed look. 

"It's always Ray though." Michael reminds him.

"It's almost like the six of us are destined  to play this fucking cat and mouse chase forever." Gavin whines against Jack's chest. Geoff's phone begins to buzz on the table and Michael answers it without thought.

"Yes?" A pause where his expression changes to disbelief. "What?"

"What is it?" Gavin asks.

"Okay." Michael is smiling now, broadly. "Thanks." He hangs the phone up. "Someone sprung Ray. He's coming towards Los Santos now on a bi ke. We can catch him right on the edge of town." But everyone is already a flurry of motion, shoving feet into shoes and scurrying towards the door. Towards Ray.

\--- ---

Sweat pools along his jaw where the helmet sits, rubbing his facial scruff uncomfortably. It's hotter on his skin, even with the lukewarm air rushing past, in the desert. He's exhausted already, thirsty and drenched, but he doesn't pull over until he hits another gas station. He makes quick work of the gas cap and starts to fill up.

The station is fairly quiet at dusk  and he leans against the pump to shut his eyes for a moment. He doesn't plan on paying for the fuel –even with a tactically acquired wallet- and will need some focus to stage his escape properly. He can hear the cars around him, pulling in and out, vague chatter filling the air over the sound of the dry wind, when he hears his nickname.

"Brownman!" He cracks his eyes open and he feels his heart sink as Gavin rushes towards him. How did he find him here? He allows Gavin's arms to crush him and is crying by the time Michael joins them. Geoff pulls them away and knocks the helmet off so that he can kiss Ray properly.  Jack and Ryan follow in quick  succession .

"How did you know that I'd be here?" Ray finally gets out between the sobs that rack his shoulders. Gavin and Jack wipe away their own tears and Michael answers.

"A Russian dropped a hint about an hour ago." Michael smiles. 

"A...Russian?" Ray's voice catches once the information can stick to his throbbing brain. "A Russian man?"

"Yeah! Did you know him from Joel's crew?" Geoff asks. They still haven't caught on, but Ray has.

"I do actually, yeah." He nods sadly. "I love you guys."

A whizzing pierces the air as blood splatters the front of Gavin and Jack. Ray only barely looks down at the gaping hole that was his chest cavity before collapsing in a heap at their feet. Gavin screams, reaching down to gather Ray to his chest. Geoff numbly looks around to find the sniper but can see nothing in the dimming sunlight. Jack has bent over with Gavin and they are both dragging Ray towards their armo red  vehicle. Ryan's entire being shakes with rage as he pulls the fuel pump from Ray's bike and coats the entire area with gasoline.

Geoff walks back to their vehicle and  climbs in with Michael, and once Ryan joins them, the group speeds away. Ryan leans out the window to fire off one shot, blowing the gas station and the surrounding area to pieces. Geoff can hear Gavin sobbing while Jack dri ves  aggressively  and Michael is shouting while Ryan presses clothing to the gaping wound in Ray's chest but Geoff knows Ray is already dead, dead, dead.

Hot tears leak down his face but he rubs them away, unable to really believe that the corpse is Ray.

Ray is gone.

\--- ---

Gavin had the hardest time with it, refusing to bury Ray. In the end, he caved, and the five of them buried their youngest member in the most expensive, private plot the Fake AH Crew could afford.

Gavin wasn't the same, and he slit his wrists in the tub a week after.

They buried Gavin next to Ray.

Geoff was almost afraid Michael would follow but it was Jack who drank Drano a month later. He really couldn't blame his boys, and while he craved to follow, he was a Gent to the end and he'd go last.

Michael followed on the anniversary of Gavin's death, poetically cutting himself to bits, just as his boi had done. 

Ryan and Geoff grew horrid, mingling into crew affairs and driving the strict rules through the roof. They eventually retired to their mansion, shut in and desperate, and gave the crew away while they plotted against Rooster Teeth. The once grand, then petty crew, was grand again with numbers that almost matched the Fake's. They waited a year and a half before making a move.

With nothing to lose , the two Gents snuck into Joel's penthouse apartment and murdered Adam in cold blood. They emerged reeking of raw meat and coppery blood and retreated back to their mansion. On the wall of the room Adam and Joel shared, it read: Come Find Us, Joel. 

Joel was said to have lost his mind when he walked in to find his lover's body horribly mutil ated  in the bed they shared.

In the very end, Joel sought them out. It was broad daylight, down by the beach where his crew's top members followed him. He was wild, drunk and looked unclean, whereas Geoff and Ryan were dressed how they always were, tuxedo and mask in place respectively.

He met them with a shotgun in his mouth and a bottle of whiskey to make him brave before he ate a bullet. 

Geoff was almost glad that it was over and that he could rest in peace knowing that Fake AH could go on. He and Ryan retreated back to their mansion, shut themselves in their bed and they each took an acid tablet.

"Gents to the end." Ryan whispered as his eyes rolled back into his head. 

"To the very end." Geoff swore, shutting his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to go into too much detail in the end because, well, let's be honest...that is another like 3 chapters and I just kind of wanted to get this done with. I'd actually like to see someone else write maybe what happened that last year after Gavin goes and it's just the four men who are going crazy and trying to stay sane. Love makes people crazy, let's just be real here.  
> Somebody write something and link it! I'd love to see how others interpret what I've already seen, you know??  
> :)


End file.
